This week has been:
Stressful.
Busy.
Stressful.
Productive.
Stressful.
Tiring.
Stressful.
That's why I haven't written this week. No energy to write. No time to write. Nothing good to write about.
I haven't baked.
I haven't read a book. Well, I did, but a paragraph in, I'd fall asleep.
I've barely cooked. I've fed my family awful dinners. Last night was hotdogs and cheese potato casserole. Well, the cheese potato casserole wasn't awful...I wanted to serve hot dogs and chips, but made the casserole to balance out the horrible hotdogs. Tonight was even worse: Grilled cheese and canned tomato soup.
I have however:
*Let the laundry pile and pile and pile up. It's clean, but in way too many baskets in my bedroom. Can't believe I'm admitting that. And you know what? I really don't even care. So there. NO, I will not be showing you a picture of that!
*Gotten out a few of my fall decorations. I love decorating for fall.
*Gotten more accomplished at work than I think I have ever accomplished in one week.
*Listened to girl number 2 practice a song on her clarinet that she had to play for jazz band tryouts so many times that I wanted to break the thing over my knee. I didn't. Only because I remembered the $150 I just spent on it a couple of weeks ago.
*Been subjected to daily reports and visual inspections of my son's foot that has a huge plantars wart, blisters, and a swollen toe joint. Looking at this foot of his would be enough to make any sane person never ever want to take up running. All I can say is ICK. I finally told him this morning that if he keeps making me look at his gross foot, I'm going to throw up on it. He thinks his gross foot is "cool." It's like it's some badge of honor or something. (For the record, he doesn't want to do anything to it that needs to be done...such as plantar wart removal...until after cross country season is over in a few weeks because it will cause him to not be able to run at all while it heals. He told me he is tough, and he will deal with it. I told him that dealing with it means that he shouldn't have to make his squeamish mother look at it every day. Shudder...
*watched a repeat of Oprah at 2 am that was about a woman who used to be a man and while she was still a man, froze his sperm, then after he became a she, met and fell in love with a woman who was later inseminated with his frozen sperm. Whew. Pretty heavy for 2 am, but I am getting sick of watching Family Matters and MASH, so I channel surfed looking for something else. Maybe it's time for an Ambien prescription. Although I'm too frightened of the things I've read that people do while they are asleep after taking Ambien. If it would make me sleep clean my house, I'd be all for it, though.
Is this the most pointless thing you've ever read?
No "dancing in the rain" for me this week. Sorry.
I won't probably post here again for a while, so don't worry. Like anyone really would...I have a crazy busy weekend, and then early Sunday morning, I'm heading east with my boss. We are going to Vermont and Massachussets to teach some workshops, and I am so excited I can't hardly stand it. In Vermont, we are staying in an inn, and I hear from our host that we will get to see some beautiful fall color. And that Bob Newhart theme keeps rolling through my head....in MA, we are staying at our hosts in laws country home, and again, I am hoping for some beautiful fall photo ops. And then, the best part, I am going to spend the weekend with my very dearest friend who I haven't seen in nearly a year. Sooo...once I get myself through THIS week, all will be well and good in my world.
Now, I'm going to go clean out my refrigerator.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Hi. My name is Rose, and I Have SPD...
Seasonal Pumpkin Disorder. Although if this is really a disease, I hope there's not a cure.
Every fall, I have the sudden urge to bake pumpkin muffins. I rarely bake them any other time of the year for some reason. However, my pumpkin addiction has gone into overdrive this fall.
This post is about how I spent the weekend feeding my addiction.
It started yesterday afternoon, when I bought this:
And just an fyi, this is a $3 candle from Walmart, and it smells heavenly! I also bought a bag of pumpkin spice coffee with a gift certificate I had from Starbucks.
I bought another sugar pumpkin and after much scraping, picking and rinsing, I roasted the seeds:
I never really thought I liked pumpkin seeds, but Lauren wanted me to make them, so I did. I just tossed them with a little olive oil, some seasoned salt, garlic powder and a little bit of ground red pepper. And they are actually pretty good. Although this little cup full is all there was. And it really wasn't all that fun washing and picking all the pumpkin goo off the seeds.
After the pumpkin was baked and cooled, I made this pumpkin sheet cake for dessert last night. Well, it was meant to be dessert, but I ate it instead of dinner:
I wanted to take a picture of it when only one piece was cut from it so you could see how yummy it looked and be jealous, but before I had the chance, my family got a little too over zealous with the forks. I don't think they know we own knives and spatulas, because every time I bake anything, they always just dig it out with a fork, making it look like a cave man attacked it. I don't often bake cakes from scratch, but this one will definately be made again.
And, finally, I made these this morning:
No, those aren't donuts frying in a vat of grease. Although donuts do sound good...here's another picture of the final product...
...pumpkin spice bagels, and while they aren't the prettiest looking thing I've ever made, OMG...they are tasty! Really, true bagel perfection, although I do realize I may be biased...a lightly crispy crust on the outside and perfectly chewy on the inside. Another picture, just before I ate one. Don't tell anyone that that's not cream cheese on the top...I am out of cream cheese, so I scraped some frosting from last night's cake.
I've always wanted to try making my own bagels, but was kind of chicken to for some reason. They weren't any harder than any other bread, and I didn't realize that you boil them before baking. These will definately be made again. The only downside, if there really is one, is that they took about 3 hours from start to finish, made a lot of mess, and only made 11 bagels. Which lasted about 5 minutes. It was so worth it, but next time, I will have to double the recipe. Maybe even triple it. Watch out St. Louis Bread Company! You've got some competition...
I wonder if a person can OD on pumpkin? I better go buy some more pumpkins and search for a pumpkin donut recipe so I can figure that out for myself....
Every fall, I have the sudden urge to bake pumpkin muffins. I rarely bake them any other time of the year for some reason. However, my pumpkin addiction has gone into overdrive this fall.
This post is about how I spent the weekend feeding my addiction.
It started yesterday afternoon, when I bought this:
And just an fyi, this is a $3 candle from Walmart, and it smells heavenly! I also bought a bag of pumpkin spice coffee with a gift certificate I had from Starbucks.
I bought another sugar pumpkin and after much scraping, picking and rinsing, I roasted the seeds:
I never really thought I liked pumpkin seeds, but Lauren wanted me to make them, so I did. I just tossed them with a little olive oil, some seasoned salt, garlic powder and a little bit of ground red pepper. And they are actually pretty good. Although this little cup full is all there was. And it really wasn't all that fun washing and picking all the pumpkin goo off the seeds.
After the pumpkin was baked and cooled, I made this pumpkin sheet cake for dessert last night. Well, it was meant to be dessert, but I ate it instead of dinner:
I wanted to take a picture of it when only one piece was cut from it so you could see how yummy it looked and be jealous, but before I had the chance, my family got a little too over zealous with the forks. I don't think they know we own knives and spatulas, because every time I bake anything, they always just dig it out with a fork, making it look like a cave man attacked it. I don't often bake cakes from scratch, but this one will definately be made again.
And, finally, I made these this morning:
No, those aren't donuts frying in a vat of grease. Although donuts do sound good...here's another picture of the final product...
...pumpkin spice bagels, and while they aren't the prettiest looking thing I've ever made, OMG...they are tasty! Really, true bagel perfection, although I do realize I may be biased...a lightly crispy crust on the outside and perfectly chewy on the inside. Another picture, just before I ate one. Don't tell anyone that that's not cream cheese on the top...I am out of cream cheese, so I scraped some frosting from last night's cake.
I've always wanted to try making my own bagels, but was kind of chicken to for some reason. They weren't any harder than any other bread, and I didn't realize that you boil them before baking. These will definately be made again. The only downside, if there really is one, is that they took about 3 hours from start to finish, made a lot of mess, and only made 11 bagels. Which lasted about 5 minutes. It was so worth it, but next time, I will have to double the recipe. Maybe even triple it. Watch out St. Louis Bread Company! You've got some competition...
I wonder if a person can OD on pumpkin? I better go buy some more pumpkins and search for a pumpkin donut recipe so I can figure that out for myself....
Saturday, September 25, 2010
I know, I haven't written for a while. It's been a crazy week, and most nights, I've fallen into bed exhausted. I haven't spent much time enjoying life, that's for sure. Between work. And work. And work. So much to do, so little time to do it, and I am stressed. I'm leaving next Sunday for a week-long trip, and my to do list is so long that there are to do lists within my to do list.
And, I've gone back to my "thank God Tony has a job...Thank God Tony has a job" chant the past few days. You know the saying "when it rains it pours," right? Well, I've been getting poured on. It started Wednesday morning when I walked out to the small freezer in my garage to grab a cup of ice, and discovered that instead of a bag of ice, I had a bag of water. I have no idea when my freezer bit the dust as I hadn't been in it for a few days, but the trash dumpster now contains the following: A roast. A bunch of cooked ground beef. A whole salmon. A package of pork chops. 2 ziploc bags full of frozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookie dough. Can you imagine my tears? And for the first time ever in my life, I wished it was winter. Why couldn't my freezer conk out in the middle of January instead of in the midst of a September heat wave?
As if that wasn't enough, when I was on my way home from picking up my children and two others from cross country practice, I noticed that the air conditioner in my car was not working. I actually laughed about that and thought how lucky I was that if my a/c had to quit, it did it on the first day of fall. But oh, no...things can never be that easy...I happened to notice at the same time that the temperature gauge in my car was in the HOT zone. I was so afraid the rest of the way home that I was going to end up on the side of the highway with steam rolling from under the hood of my overheated car...I made it home, and LONNNGGG story short, Tony discovered that some hose was broken and all the coolant had leaked out. And no he couldn't fix it, because he couldn't get to it. So we drove it to the guy who fixes our cars, and while it only required a $10 plastic part, because of the labor involved, cost nearly $400 to fix. $400!! $400!!!!!!!!!! To fix a $10 part. Is it just me or is there something messed up about that? Even that cloud had a silver lining…Tony has been doing some side work at our vet’s house, and he got paid yesterday…you guessed it, almost $400.
That's enough venting. I'll tell a little story now that may make you laugh. Or at least smile.
Tuesday night, I ended up in a situation that is quite honestly, one of the situations I have most dreaded being in for as long as I can remember. I'd like to think my boss was totally innocent of knowing what she was expecting of me, but knowing her, I'm sure it was more likely that she wanted to use this as one of her moments of "encouraging"/forcing me to step outside my comfort zone. She is very good at conning me into doing things that she knows darn good and well I won't feel comfortable doing by not giving me all the facts before I agree to doing whatever it is she wants me to do.
Confused much?
She asked me on Monday if I wanted to go to a "networking" meeting with her and our PR director. She told me there would be free food and drinks, and she really wanted me to go. It was being put on by a professional organization that had chosen Share as their charity to donate money to this month. She said I wouldn't have to get up and talk, and that sealed the deal for me. Not having to stand in front of a crowd of people and talk...free food...sign me up!
Well, I should have known there was more to the story. Much more.
First of all, she told me we needed to dress up. So, I did...nice dress, heels, dressy sweater...I don't dress up much, so I enjoy doing so when I have the opportunity.
First thing she didn't mention...although in her defense, I don't think she knew this ahead of time because she wasn't really dressed appropriately either...the event was held outdoors on the tent-covered patio of a Scottish pub bar/restaurant in St. Louis. No problem, except it was SOOOO hot and humid that day. I mean July hot...in the 90's, sweltering HOT. And the free drinks consisted of one option...Blue Moon beer. I am not a beer drinker. And I had no money with me since I thought food and drinks were free. At least the ice water was free.
But the worst thing that she didn't mention was this was not a dinner. Maybe she thought I knew what a "networking meeting" actually is, but I did not. I do now.
So while I was just glad I wasn't going to have to talk in front of a crowd of people, I didn't know that what I was going to have to do instead would make me wish I was talking to a crowd of people. Instead, I was instructed to "work the crowd." The three of us had to walk around this group of probably 60 20-something professionals, introduce ourselves, ask what they do, tell them about Share, exchange business cards....YIKES.
Now I like to talk, and I don't think anyone who knows me will dispute that. But, I tend to be more the wallflower type when I am in situations where I don't know anyone. I don't even mind being with someone I know in room full of people I don't know, as long as that person knows that I will stick to them like superglue.
But...me...in a room full of people I don't know, not having someone to stick to like superglue...well, that's something so far out of my comfort zone it's not even in the same galaxy. And it certainly didn't make it easier when the 2 people I was with are the 2 biggest social butterflies I know. Within a few minutes of arriving, our PR director was flitting around talking to everyone, definitely in her element. And I might add, wearing a cute strapless dress and sandals with her cute hair pulled back into a cute ponytail, while I was melting in my dress and sweater and the humidity was making my hair look like hair should never look. You may be wondering why I didn't just take off my sweater...well, while I love this particular dress, the straps tend to fall off my shoulders showing my bra straps, and I didn't think that would be a good look for a "networking meeting. I followed my boss around for a few minutes, and then she saw a lady sitting at a table by herself and said to me, "I'm going to go to talk to her, you go meet some people!"
Can you imagine my "what the hell do I do now?" look??
So, I turn around and see two friendly looking people standing there, I offer my hand and introduce myself, and say that I work for the organization who they are donating money to this month...so far so good...and then they both look at me like they have absolutely NO clue what I am talking about. Turns out, they really didn't have a clue what I was talking about. It was their first time at an event like this too, they had just joined the organization, and were just as nervous as I was. They had no idea the organization donated to charities. Too funny...
This story has already gotten way too long, but to sum up my evening...
*I sweated like I haven't sweated in a long time, and I looked (and felt) like holy hell by the time I got home.
*I felt insanely jealous of the waiters…and wished I had their poise. I mean, it must take a great deal of self confidence for men to wear skirts and knee socks. (Remember…Scottish pub…all the waiters were wearing kilts).
*I exchanged business cards with maybe 10 people, while my coworker in the cute strapless dress, collected probably 40 or more.
*I spent 20 minutes talking to a guy who at first glance seemed very nice and attractive...kind of a yuppie type...and who made me want to run away screaming by the time he finished giving me a lecture on what is good art and what is bad art. And which museums are known for housing crappy art. He also kept dropping names of all these artists, and all these art museums, none of which I have heard of as I know nothing about art...not sure if he was trying to impress me...and then, he told me about his latest art project which is a clear glass head wearing a gas mask...and he is trying to figure out a way to make it look like there is an atomic explosion going on inside the glass head. And how he wants to attach a ring of flowers to the gas mask. I felt like saying "Dude, you are creating an atomic explosion inside MY head!"
*The most depressing part of the evening was talking to this young gal who writes children's books, which is something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember.
So what is the point of all this? And how does it relate to my being positive blog posts here? There isn't one. And it doesn’t.
I'm sorry. I'll try to do better the next time.
And, I've gone back to my "thank God Tony has a job...Thank God Tony has a job" chant the past few days. You know the saying "when it rains it pours," right? Well, I've been getting poured on. It started Wednesday morning when I walked out to the small freezer in my garage to grab a cup of ice, and discovered that instead of a bag of ice, I had a bag of water. I have no idea when my freezer bit the dust as I hadn't been in it for a few days, but the trash dumpster now contains the following: A roast. A bunch of cooked ground beef. A whole salmon. A package of pork chops. 2 ziploc bags full of frozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookie dough. Can you imagine my tears? And for the first time ever in my life, I wished it was winter. Why couldn't my freezer conk out in the middle of January instead of in the midst of a September heat wave?
As if that wasn't enough, when I was on my way home from picking up my children and two others from cross country practice, I noticed that the air conditioner in my car was not working. I actually laughed about that and thought how lucky I was that if my a/c had to quit, it did it on the first day of fall. But oh, no...things can never be that easy...I happened to notice at the same time that the temperature gauge in my car was in the HOT zone. I was so afraid the rest of the way home that I was going to end up on the side of the highway with steam rolling from under the hood of my overheated car...I made it home, and LONNNGGG story short, Tony discovered that some hose was broken and all the coolant had leaked out. And no he couldn't fix it, because he couldn't get to it. So we drove it to the guy who fixes our cars, and while it only required a $10 plastic part, because of the labor involved, cost nearly $400 to fix. $400!! $400!!!!!!!!!! To fix a $10 part. Is it just me or is there something messed up about that? Even that cloud had a silver lining…Tony has been doing some side work at our vet’s house, and he got paid yesterday…you guessed it, almost $400.
That's enough venting. I'll tell a little story now that may make you laugh. Or at least smile.
Tuesday night, I ended up in a situation that is quite honestly, one of the situations I have most dreaded being in for as long as I can remember. I'd like to think my boss was totally innocent of knowing what she was expecting of me, but knowing her, I'm sure it was more likely that she wanted to use this as one of her moments of "encouraging"/forcing me to step outside my comfort zone. She is very good at conning me into doing things that she knows darn good and well I won't feel comfortable doing by not giving me all the facts before I agree to doing whatever it is she wants me to do.
Confused much?
She asked me on Monday if I wanted to go to a "networking" meeting with her and our PR director. She told me there would be free food and drinks, and she really wanted me to go. It was being put on by a professional organization that had chosen Share as their charity to donate money to this month. She said I wouldn't have to get up and talk, and that sealed the deal for me. Not having to stand in front of a crowd of people and talk...free food...sign me up!
Well, I should have known there was more to the story. Much more.
First of all, she told me we needed to dress up. So, I did...nice dress, heels, dressy sweater...I don't dress up much, so I enjoy doing so when I have the opportunity.
First thing she didn't mention...although in her defense, I don't think she knew this ahead of time because she wasn't really dressed appropriately either...the event was held outdoors on the tent-covered patio of a Scottish pub bar/restaurant in St. Louis. No problem, except it was SOOOO hot and humid that day. I mean July hot...in the 90's, sweltering HOT. And the free drinks consisted of one option...Blue Moon beer. I am not a beer drinker. And I had no money with me since I thought food and drinks were free. At least the ice water was free.
But the worst thing that she didn't mention was this was not a dinner. Maybe she thought I knew what a "networking meeting" actually is, but I did not. I do now.
So while I was just glad I wasn't going to have to talk in front of a crowd of people, I didn't know that what I was going to have to do instead would make me wish I was talking to a crowd of people. Instead, I was instructed to "work the crowd." The three of us had to walk around this group of probably 60 20-something professionals, introduce ourselves, ask what they do, tell them about Share, exchange business cards....YIKES.
Now I like to talk, and I don't think anyone who knows me will dispute that. But, I tend to be more the wallflower type when I am in situations where I don't know anyone. I don't even mind being with someone I know in room full of people I don't know, as long as that person knows that I will stick to them like superglue.
But...me...in a room full of people I don't know, not having someone to stick to like superglue...well, that's something so far out of my comfort zone it's not even in the same galaxy. And it certainly didn't make it easier when the 2 people I was with are the 2 biggest social butterflies I know. Within a few minutes of arriving, our PR director was flitting around talking to everyone, definitely in her element. And I might add, wearing a cute strapless dress and sandals with her cute hair pulled back into a cute ponytail, while I was melting in my dress and sweater and the humidity was making my hair look like hair should never look. You may be wondering why I didn't just take off my sweater...well, while I love this particular dress, the straps tend to fall off my shoulders showing my bra straps, and I didn't think that would be a good look for a "networking meeting. I followed my boss around for a few minutes, and then she saw a lady sitting at a table by herself and said to me, "I'm going to go to talk to her, you go meet some people!"
Can you imagine my "what the hell do I do now?" look??
So, I turn around and see two friendly looking people standing there, I offer my hand and introduce myself, and say that I work for the organization who they are donating money to this month...so far so good...and then they both look at me like they have absolutely NO clue what I am talking about. Turns out, they really didn't have a clue what I was talking about. It was their first time at an event like this too, they had just joined the organization, and were just as nervous as I was. They had no idea the organization donated to charities. Too funny...
This story has already gotten way too long, but to sum up my evening...
*I sweated like I haven't sweated in a long time, and I looked (and felt) like holy hell by the time I got home.
*I felt insanely jealous of the waiters…and wished I had their poise. I mean, it must take a great deal of self confidence for men to wear skirts and knee socks. (Remember…Scottish pub…all the waiters were wearing kilts).
*I exchanged business cards with maybe 10 people, while my coworker in the cute strapless dress, collected probably 40 or more.
*I spent 20 minutes talking to a guy who at first glance seemed very nice and attractive...kind of a yuppie type...and who made me want to run away screaming by the time he finished giving me a lecture on what is good art and what is bad art. And which museums are known for housing crappy art. He also kept dropping names of all these artists, and all these art museums, none of which I have heard of as I know nothing about art...not sure if he was trying to impress me...and then, he told me about his latest art project which is a clear glass head wearing a gas mask...and he is trying to figure out a way to make it look like there is an atomic explosion going on inside the glass head. And how he wants to attach a ring of flowers to the gas mask. I felt like saying "Dude, you are creating an atomic explosion inside MY head!"
*The most depressing part of the evening was talking to this young gal who writes children's books, which is something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember.
So what is the point of all this? And how does it relate to my being positive blog posts here? There isn't one. And it doesn’t.
I'm sorry. I'll try to do better the next time.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Big Goofy Smile!
On a message board that I've been reading for years, someone challenged anyone who blogs to write a blog post this weekend about something that brings a big, goofy smile to their face. Right up my alley, huh? So of course, I have to take her up on that challenge. And I just happened to have the perfect opportunity yesterday for smiling a big, goofy smile..
Both of the girls needed new shoes. Badly. I was so excited by the shoes Lauren picked out, as she broke out of her white-on-white, nondescript, shoe phase that she has been in since, oh, kindergarten. I think she inherited her white fetish from her wonderful mother...who has more white shirts, sweaters, etc than anyone really needs. Well, I need them, but that's beside the point.
I was truly shocked by the shoes she fell in love with and HAD. TO. HAVE. They were far out of my shoe budget comfort zone, but she wanted them so desperately, that she paid for them with HER OWN MONEY!!! She's pretty much a tightwad and doesn't part with HER OWN MONEY very easily, so that gives you a clue as to how badly she had to have those shoes. I'll show you in a sec...
Now Rachel on the other hand...whereas Lauren lives in a white bread/white shoe/generic tshirt world, Rachel lives in a technicolor, put on your sunglasses world. She definately has her own special fashion sense that borderlines at times on Introduction to Punky Brewster. And she has no clue who Punky Brewster IS. Sometimes, the things she comes downstairs dressed for school in leave me speechless and shaking my head in shock and awe. I do however keep my amazement to myself (well, most of the time!) since my own mother was still picking out my clothes and telling me what to wear when I was in high school. I just look at her, shake my head and pray that someday (SOON!) she will come to her senses and enjoy a more...shall I say...coordinated look.
So while Lauren's choice of shoes nearly made me faint in surprise, Rachel's surprised me not one tiny little bit.
Here is the first thing that gave me a goofy smile yesterday:
Rachel's shoes are on the left and Lauren's are on the right. (And please oh please ignore my less than clean kitchen floor. It's been a long week). "Mop kitchen floor" was at the very top of my to-do-list for today, in big bold letters, but it's rainy. And we have a dog, so the clean kitchen floor will have to wait.
Close up of Rachel's shoes:
There is one more thing that made me smile an even bigger, even goofier, smile. And just so you know, smiling about this means that I have come a very long way from my borderline OCD tendencies.
I like things to match. In my pre-children days, I wouldn't even carry a purse that didn't match my shoes. In the early 80's when those polo shirts with the little alligator just below the collar were popular, I had a love/hate relationship with them because the alligator was always green, no matter what color the shirt was, and that bugged me. I always thought it would have been so much better if the Lacoste company would have made the alligator white since white goes with everything. I bought those alligater shirts, but only if the green alligator actually looked good with the shirt. God, I can't believe I just admitted that. I just like things to match. I'm not as extreme about it as I used to be, but that side of me is still lurking in the dusty shadows, ready to pounce. So you can imagine how much THIS particular trend originally gave me heart palpitations:
I don't know if it's a St. Louis thing or just a teenage girl thing, but my girls wear socks that don't match. Every day. The first time I saw one of them wearing mismatched socks, I ran upstairs to grab a pair that matched, and I got the eyeroll, and a "MOM! THIS is the style!" I've sort of kind of gotten used to it but not really. Yesterday, when I was buying shoes, the shoe store had a buy one get one half price sale going on, the girls needed socks, so we picked some out. The package of socks Rachel picked out not only made me smile, but I actually laughed...It seems as if Famous Footwear has noticed the trend of teen girls wearing socks that do not match, and they now sell a package of 12 socks, none of which match! Yep, 12 different socks in the same package! There were lots of packages of colorful wacky patterned socks, but guess which ones Rachel picked out? If you guessed the package of 12 different socks, you win.
One last thing that didn't make me smile, but made me laugh in horror...when we were checking out, the cashier was talking about the "mismatch" trend. She said the newest thing is not just wearing socks that don't match, but buying a couple of different pairs of Converse shoes, and wearing 2 SHOES that don't match.
I may need therapy and anti anxiety meds if Rachel embraces that fad.
Both of the girls needed new shoes. Badly. I was so excited by the shoes Lauren picked out, as she broke out of her white-on-white, nondescript, shoe phase that she has been in since, oh, kindergarten. I think she inherited her white fetish from her wonderful mother...who has more white shirts, sweaters, etc than anyone really needs. Well, I need them, but that's beside the point.
I was truly shocked by the shoes she fell in love with and HAD. TO. HAVE. They were far out of my shoe budget comfort zone, but she wanted them so desperately, that she paid for them with HER OWN MONEY!!! She's pretty much a tightwad and doesn't part with HER OWN MONEY very easily, so that gives you a clue as to how badly she had to have those shoes. I'll show you in a sec...
Now Rachel on the other hand...whereas Lauren lives in a white bread/white shoe/generic tshirt world, Rachel lives in a technicolor, put on your sunglasses world. She definately has her own special fashion sense that borderlines at times on Introduction to Punky Brewster. And she has no clue who Punky Brewster IS. Sometimes, the things she comes downstairs dressed for school in leave me speechless and shaking my head in shock and awe. I do however keep my amazement to myself (well, most of the time!) since my own mother was still picking out my clothes and telling me what to wear when I was in high school. I just look at her, shake my head and pray that someday (SOON!) she will come to her senses and enjoy a more...shall I say...coordinated look.
So while Lauren's choice of shoes nearly made me faint in surprise, Rachel's surprised me not one tiny little bit.
Here is the first thing that gave me a goofy smile yesterday:
Rachel's shoes are on the left and Lauren's are on the right. (And please oh please ignore my less than clean kitchen floor. It's been a long week). "Mop kitchen floor" was at the very top of my to-do-list for today, in big bold letters, but it's rainy. And we have a dog, so the clean kitchen floor will have to wait.
Close up of Rachel's shoes:
There is one more thing that made me smile an even bigger, even goofier, smile. And just so you know, smiling about this means that I have come a very long way from my borderline OCD tendencies.
I like things to match. In my pre-children days, I wouldn't even carry a purse that didn't match my shoes. In the early 80's when those polo shirts with the little alligator just below the collar were popular, I had a love/hate relationship with them because the alligator was always green, no matter what color the shirt was, and that bugged me. I always thought it would have been so much better if the Lacoste company would have made the alligator white since white goes with everything. I bought those alligater shirts, but only if the green alligator actually looked good with the shirt. God, I can't believe I just admitted that. I just like things to match. I'm not as extreme about it as I used to be, but that side of me is still lurking in the dusty shadows, ready to pounce. So you can imagine how much THIS particular trend originally gave me heart palpitations:
I don't know if it's a St. Louis thing or just a teenage girl thing, but my girls wear socks that don't match. Every day. The first time I saw one of them wearing mismatched socks, I ran upstairs to grab a pair that matched, and I got the eyeroll, and a "MOM! THIS is the style!" I've sort of kind of gotten used to it but not really. Yesterday, when I was buying shoes, the shoe store had a buy one get one half price sale going on, the girls needed socks, so we picked some out. The package of socks Rachel picked out not only made me smile, but I actually laughed...It seems as if Famous Footwear has noticed the trend of teen girls wearing socks that do not match, and they now sell a package of 12 socks, none of which match! Yep, 12 different socks in the same package! There were lots of packages of colorful wacky patterned socks, but guess which ones Rachel picked out? If you guessed the package of 12 different socks, you win.
One last thing that didn't make me smile, but made me laugh in horror...when we were checking out, the cashier was talking about the "mismatch" trend. She said the newest thing is not just wearing socks that don't match, but buying a couple of different pairs of Converse shoes, and wearing 2 SHOES that don't match.
I may need therapy and anti anxiety meds if Rachel embraces that fad.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Not much to write tonight. But feast your eyes on this:
Earlier in the week,I posted about my free beer and how I couldn't wait to make cheddar beer bread. Today, I finally made it. And no, this isn't a mini loaf of bread. This is just what's left after I ate a bunch of it out of the pan before it was even too cool to slice. I ate it with a spoon. Try it sometime...I didn't have a bad day, but if I had, scooping hot cheddar beer bread out of the pan with a spoon would have made it allllllll better.
I'd like to blame half the missing loaf on my kids or husband, but I can't. They aren't home. I ate a good third of the loaf all by myself. Don't think bad of me, okay?? The bread was still in the oven when most of my family left, and I took it out right before I took the remaining part of my family somewhere...I'm trying to think of a good explanation as to why so much of it is gone when no one was even home. I know! I'll blame it on the dog! "I left for 10 minutes, and when I came back, half the loaf was gone!"
Think they'll believe me?
Onto another topic. I didn't write about this yesterday, but yesterday, Tony accepted the teaching job that I mentioned last week. He starts on Monday! He's kind of excited about it...it's definately a new career path. I keep thinking of the saying "when God closes a door, he opens a window." He is really excited about it, and I hope that he enjoys it.
Oh, and did anyone notice the pumpkin in the background of the picture I posted? I bought more pumpkins yesterday. I didn't draw faces on them, but over the weekend, they will be meeting the same fate the other pumpkin did.
Earlier in the week,I posted about my free beer and how I couldn't wait to make cheddar beer bread. Today, I finally made it. And no, this isn't a mini loaf of bread. This is just what's left after I ate a bunch of it out of the pan before it was even too cool to slice. I ate it with a spoon. Try it sometime...I didn't have a bad day, but if I had, scooping hot cheddar beer bread out of the pan with a spoon would have made it allllllll better.
I'd like to blame half the missing loaf on my kids or husband, but I can't. They aren't home. I ate a good third of the loaf all by myself. Don't think bad of me, okay?? The bread was still in the oven when most of my family left, and I took it out right before I took the remaining part of my family somewhere...I'm trying to think of a good explanation as to why so much of it is gone when no one was even home. I know! I'll blame it on the dog! "I left for 10 minutes, and when I came back, half the loaf was gone!"
Think they'll believe me?
Onto another topic. I didn't write about this yesterday, but yesterday, Tony accepted the teaching job that I mentioned last week. He starts on Monday! He's kind of excited about it...it's definately a new career path. I keep thinking of the saying "when God closes a door, he opens a window." He is really excited about it, and I hope that he enjoys it.
Oh, and did anyone notice the pumpkin in the background of the picture I posted? I bought more pumpkins yesterday. I didn't draw faces on them, but over the weekend, they will be meeting the same fate the other pumpkin did.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got....
When I started writing on this blog several weeks ago, the idea was for me to find ways to enjoy life each day in spite of the crappy situation we were dealing with. There was another part of it too...and that was to find ways to be appreciative of what I have without always longing for what I don't. That is what today's post is about.
Several years ago, we held a retreat, and one of the gals who attended took an afternoon off and drove to the riverfront in St. Charles. Later that day, she told me how much she enjoyed our "beautiful river." I will admit, I laughed. After I asked her if she was joking. I had never looked upon our river as beautiful. And this gal lives near the beach in South Carolina...I remember thinking to myself, how can she live near the Atlantic ocean for crying out loud, and think the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri is beautiful? At the same time, her view of our river gave me a new appreciation for it. It is only a few blocks....walking distance...from my office, and I never really took the time to appreciate it. I don't go down to the river often, usually just for a festival or something, and to be honest, I never paid much attention to the river. Now, whenever I do go, which still isn't often, I think of her and how she was able to see the beauty in something I see all the time and never really appreciated.
Back to the point of this post...one of my goals in writing on this blog is to appreciate what I have and not long for what I don't. Wow, that is so hard for me at times! I always find myself longing for so many things I do not have. Not material things by the way.
So with that all said, I love the beach. I could live at the beach. I crave it when I haven't been there for a long time. And it's been a LONG time. Maybe that is why it was so foreign to me that someone could look at the Missouri River and think it is beautiful. It's not the Atlantic Ocean. And it's not the Gulf of Mexico with it's aquamarine waters lapping over white sandy beaches. It's the MISSOURI RIVER. Muddy. Unnaturally flowing from South to North through St. Charles. Full of logs and sticks and who knows what all debris that it's picked up on it's travels southward.
No, the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri is no Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. But, does that mean it's not beautiful in it's own way? Like I already said, I still don't go down to the river very often, but whenever I do,I don't look at it the same way I used to...I always think of her saying how beautiful our river is.
It's not a huge surprise to anyone who reads this blog that my life has been full of stress lately. Lots of stress. More than I have written about. One day last week, I decided that I was going to go to the river and take a short walk to de stress before I went to work. Not a power walk...I didn't want to go to work all sweaty and gross...I thought I would walk for just a few minutes and enjoy the sights. I happened to have my camera in the car, so I grabbed it. And I did something I have never done in all of my years of living in St. Charles...I took a picture of the river. Well, I take that back...I did take pictures of the river once before, in 1993, when the river flooded.
As I walked that morning, I noticed things I'd never noticed before. Like the way the early morning sunshine sparkled on the water. I took my camera from my purse, and took a couple of pictures. I sat on a bench and just watched the muddy waters flow. I watched a flock of geese circle and then land in a grassy area on the edge of the river. And I thought, "Wow, it really IS beautiful here. And peaceful."
This week, I made taking a short walk along the river part of my morning routine, even when I was running a few minutes late for work. I didn't go this morning because it was threatening rain, and I didn't have an umbrella with me. I am looking forward to walking as the season changes to fall because I'm sure it's probably even prettier then as the river banks are lined with trees. I don't think I have ever been there in the fall.
To wrap this up...this is one small way that I am trying to focus on the good things around me. While I would much rather spend my morning walking along a sandy beach, that's never going to happen. So I might as well enjoy what IS here, right in front of me.
Here are a few pictures I've taken over the past week as I walked along the river:
Several years ago, we held a retreat, and one of the gals who attended took an afternoon off and drove to the riverfront in St. Charles. Later that day, she told me how much she enjoyed our "beautiful river." I will admit, I laughed. After I asked her if she was joking. I had never looked upon our river as beautiful. And this gal lives near the beach in South Carolina...I remember thinking to myself, how can she live near the Atlantic ocean for crying out loud, and think the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri is beautiful? At the same time, her view of our river gave me a new appreciation for it. It is only a few blocks....walking distance...from my office, and I never really took the time to appreciate it. I don't go down to the river often, usually just for a festival or something, and to be honest, I never paid much attention to the river. Now, whenever I do go, which still isn't often, I think of her and how she was able to see the beauty in something I see all the time and never really appreciated.
Back to the point of this post...one of my goals in writing on this blog is to appreciate what I have and not long for what I don't. Wow, that is so hard for me at times! I always find myself longing for so many things I do not have. Not material things by the way.
So with that all said, I love the beach. I could live at the beach. I crave it when I haven't been there for a long time. And it's been a LONG time. Maybe that is why it was so foreign to me that someone could look at the Missouri River and think it is beautiful. It's not the Atlantic Ocean. And it's not the Gulf of Mexico with it's aquamarine waters lapping over white sandy beaches. It's the MISSOURI RIVER. Muddy. Unnaturally flowing from South to North through St. Charles. Full of logs and sticks and who knows what all debris that it's picked up on it's travels southward.
No, the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri is no Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. But, does that mean it's not beautiful in it's own way? Like I already said, I still don't go down to the river very often, but whenever I do,I don't look at it the same way I used to...I always think of her saying how beautiful our river is.
It's not a huge surprise to anyone who reads this blog that my life has been full of stress lately. Lots of stress. More than I have written about. One day last week, I decided that I was going to go to the river and take a short walk to de stress before I went to work. Not a power walk...I didn't want to go to work all sweaty and gross...I thought I would walk for just a few minutes and enjoy the sights. I happened to have my camera in the car, so I grabbed it. And I did something I have never done in all of my years of living in St. Charles...I took a picture of the river. Well, I take that back...I did take pictures of the river once before, in 1993, when the river flooded.
As I walked that morning, I noticed things I'd never noticed before. Like the way the early morning sunshine sparkled on the water. I took my camera from my purse, and took a couple of pictures. I sat on a bench and just watched the muddy waters flow. I watched a flock of geese circle and then land in a grassy area on the edge of the river. And I thought, "Wow, it really IS beautiful here. And peaceful."
This week, I made taking a short walk along the river part of my morning routine, even when I was running a few minutes late for work. I didn't go this morning because it was threatening rain, and I didn't have an umbrella with me. I am looking forward to walking as the season changes to fall because I'm sure it's probably even prettier then as the river banks are lined with trees. I don't think I have ever been there in the fall.
To wrap this up...this is one small way that I am trying to focus on the good things around me. While I would much rather spend my morning walking along a sandy beach, that's never going to happen. So I might as well enjoy what IS here, right in front of me.
Here are a few pictures I've taken over the past week as I walked along the river:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I've stooped to a new low with the picture I'm about to post. It comes with a disclaimer...it's not what ya think!
Okay, so maybe it IS what you think...I mean, it IS 2 cans of Bud Light. No, I'm not drinking them. I am not a beer drinker, but I am now the proud owner of a case and more of beer, even though no one in this house drinks beer. Tony is too worried about his "girlish figure," and I just really don't much care for beer. So why do I have a case of beer you may (or may not!) be wondering?
Yesterday was the annual Share golf tournament. In other words...hot day+lots of guys+golf=lots of beer consumed. It also means lots of beer left over. We fortunately have several wonderful companies that donate all of the beer to us, and we merrily drive around the course throughout the day giving out beer, soda and water (mostly beer) to the golfers. Really, driving a golf cart around Bear Creek Golf Course every first Monday after Labor Day is one of the highlights of my job. You never know what you're going to encounter...for instance, yesterday, as my coworker and I pulled our cart up to one team, and I sweetly asked, Does anyone need drinks or snacks?" a comedian/golfer said..."SEX?? I'm here with my WIFE!" And then there was a guy who just said, "You don't even need to stop and ask, just every time you drive by us, toss me a Bud Select." Best of all was the very funny gal, who is one of our board members, who had a bag of jumbo marshmallows with her, and randomly tossed them onto the green near the hole as she drove by so that the team of guys behind her would see them and from a distance think "Holy Shit! I almost made a hole in one!"
Like I said, good times at Bear Creek Golf Course.
So back to my beer stash. This afternoon, a couple of our regular golfers showed up at the office with the back of an Expedition full of coolers that were full of soda and beer; all the leftovers from yesterday. Like I already said, I am not a beer drinker, so I was not going to bring any home, though a couple of my coworkers were. I like to put beer in my barbeque sauce, so I thought I would take home a few cans. I helped unload all the extra beer, told everyone to take whatever they wanted because I only wanted a couple of cans, went up to my office, and then it hit me! Cheddar Beer Bread!
I have an awesome recipe that I don't make often because I don't usually have beer in the house. Well, now I do! I now have enough beer to have soup and bread throughout the fall and winter. I wanted to make some today, but by the time I got home from work, I was hot, my house was hot, and I wasn't in the mood to bake bread. I will hopefully make some tomorrow. I will share pictures, and maybe my recipe. :-)
Finally, here is a picture of me with a few of my coworkers and 2 of our board members. From the left, Me, my coworker Jeanna, our board member Mandy and Dan, co anchors of St. Louis Fox news, my boss Cathi, and my coworkers Stephanie and Megan just before everyone headed out to the course. If I had better photo editing skills (or rather ANY photo editing skills!) I'd blur myself out of that picture because I look horrible. Why do I always think I look pretty decent, and then see the picture, and think OMG. I know, it's because the camera adds 10 pounds. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! At least the picture is taken from far enough away that you can't see my grays. I have been trying to decide if I want to let my hair go au naturel or highlight it...this picture made my decision. Highlights it is!
Okay, so maybe it IS what you think...I mean, it IS 2 cans of Bud Light. No, I'm not drinking them. I am not a beer drinker, but I am now the proud owner of a case and more of beer, even though no one in this house drinks beer. Tony is too worried about his "girlish figure," and I just really don't much care for beer. So why do I have a case of beer you may (or may not!) be wondering?
Yesterday was the annual Share golf tournament. In other words...hot day+lots of guys+golf=lots of beer consumed. It also means lots of beer left over. We fortunately have several wonderful companies that donate all of the beer to us, and we merrily drive around the course throughout the day giving out beer, soda and water (mostly beer) to the golfers. Really, driving a golf cart around Bear Creek Golf Course every first Monday after Labor Day is one of the highlights of my job. You never know what you're going to encounter...for instance, yesterday, as my coworker and I pulled our cart up to one team, and I sweetly asked, Does anyone need drinks or snacks?" a comedian/golfer said..."SEX?? I'm here with my WIFE!" And then there was a guy who just said, "You don't even need to stop and ask, just every time you drive by us, toss me a Bud Select." Best of all was the very funny gal, who is one of our board members, who had a bag of jumbo marshmallows with her, and randomly tossed them onto the green near the hole as she drove by so that the team of guys behind her would see them and from a distance think "Holy Shit! I almost made a hole in one!"
Like I said, good times at Bear Creek Golf Course.
So back to my beer stash. This afternoon, a couple of our regular golfers showed up at the office with the back of an Expedition full of coolers that were full of soda and beer; all the leftovers from yesterday. Like I already said, I am not a beer drinker, so I was not going to bring any home, though a couple of my coworkers were. I like to put beer in my barbeque sauce, so I thought I would take home a few cans. I helped unload all the extra beer, told everyone to take whatever they wanted because I only wanted a couple of cans, went up to my office, and then it hit me! Cheddar Beer Bread!
I have an awesome recipe that I don't make often because I don't usually have beer in the house. Well, now I do! I now have enough beer to have soup and bread throughout the fall and winter. I wanted to make some today, but by the time I got home from work, I was hot, my house was hot, and I wasn't in the mood to bake bread. I will hopefully make some tomorrow. I will share pictures, and maybe my recipe. :-)
Finally, here is a picture of me with a few of my coworkers and 2 of our board members. From the left, Me, my coworker Jeanna, our board member Mandy and Dan, co anchors of St. Louis Fox news, my boss Cathi, and my coworkers Stephanie and Megan just before everyone headed out to the course. If I had better photo editing skills (or rather ANY photo editing skills!) I'd blur myself out of that picture because I look horrible. Why do I always think I look pretty decent, and then see the picture, and think OMG. I know, it's because the camera adds 10 pounds. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! At least the picture is taken from far enough away that you can't see my grays. I have been trying to decide if I want to let my hair go au naturel or highlight it...this picture made my decision. Highlights it is!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
For your drooling pleasure....
Rachel had one of her best friends over today, and as usual when she has a friend over, she wants to "make something." LOL Wonder where she gets that from??? Her friends love it when we bake...we've made snowman cookies, flower cupcakes, and more. Today, we made oreo fudge. OMG...I should have chosen something else. Anything else. I love oreos, and I love fudge. Need I say more? The picture says it all, I think. I need to take up a new hobby...like running. Or maybe coin collecting.
Speaking of running, Lauren and Justin had a cross country meet today at Forest Park. Lauren was kind of disappointed on Thursday when the coach told her she was going to run in the freshman race instead of the JV race...well, she ended up getting a medal...she placed 23rd out of 280 runners! Wow. And, she was the only girl on her team that even got a medal. Not even the big star of their varsity team got a medal. So she was happy.
I forgot to mention that I baked chocolate chip banana bread this morning,too. My grandmas recipe. No pictures, though. Like I said, I obviously need a new hobby--one that doesn't involve food! I haven't popped any buttons on my clothes lately, but I can't help but wonder how much weight I've gained the past few weeks.
I have to write about something funny I did today. Well, what I did isn't funny, but it made me chuckle. I bought something from a pawn shop for the first time ever. Actually, I walked into a pawn shop for the first time ever. I felt like such a smarmy person going into a pawn shop, I don't know why.
Rachel needs a new clarinet, and I obviously don't have a whole lot of money to spend on one. So this morning, I googled music stores in St. Charles MO to see if I could find a good used one because the music store near my house didn't have any used clarinets right now. Well...one of the things that came up on Google was a music store called Chesterfield Music. I called, the guy on the phone said they had a couple of used clarinets, gave me their address and directions, and when I got there, it was NOT Chesterfield Music...it was a pawn store! LOL I almost didn't even go in. Seriously, can any of you see me in a pawn shop? Bet you'd like to have a picture of that.
They had 2 clarinets. Both were in good shape...they gave me a wipe to clean off the mouthpiece so that Rachel could play them and make sure they worked. One of them sounded great except for one note she tried to play. So I called our music store, let them listen over the phone to Rachel playing...she told them what she was trying to play...they said it sounded like some key (that I don't know what the heck it's called because I know nothing about clarinets OR music) needs a new pad. They told me the clarinet was a good brand, so I bought it for $60! It had been marked $100. Then I took it to the music store and it will cost about $40 to get in good shape...cleaning and new pads. At some point I will have to get her a better one, but for now it will be okay. So I got a clarinet for $100!
And the best part of my day??? My son took me out to dinner!!!! Tony took Justin and Lauren and some of their cross country friends out for hot wings. I do not like hot wings, at all. Brandon said he was in the mood for Bandanas barbeque, and that he would pay if I took him. There is something so satisfying about your kid buying you a meal.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The short (and very sweet!) life of a sugar pumpkin
Just a few days ago, this cute little pumpkin was nestled all nice and cozy in a box of other pumpkins in the Dierbergs produce department. It then happily spent a day on my kitchen counter
before it met it's violent end.
However, this little $3 pumpkin has now fulfilled it's very important mission on Earth. Two batches of pumpkin oatmeal cookie dough...one with chocolate chips and one with butterscotch chips (because the husband doesn't like chocolate...yes, I know I married a very strange man).
This is what is left of the sweet pumpkin:
along with 2 ziploc bags full of frozen cookie dough balls so I can bake cookies to take to work next week and this:
...enough pumpkin to make a batch of muffins and one more batch of cookies. It's supposed to rain this weekend, and I think I'm going to go buy as many pumpkins as I can to put in jars in the freezer to last me through Thanksgiving. Don't worry, I won't write about them anymore! I promise. (Well, unless I feel the need to share something else I bake!)
And no, I haven't been drinking; but, I am probably on a sugar high from all of the cookies I have consumed.
before it met it's violent end.
However, this little $3 pumpkin has now fulfilled it's very important mission on Earth. Two batches of pumpkin oatmeal cookie dough...one with chocolate chips and one with butterscotch chips (because the husband doesn't like chocolate...yes, I know I married a very strange man).
This is what is left of the sweet pumpkin:
along with 2 ziploc bags full of frozen cookie dough balls so I can bake cookies to take to work next week and this:
...enough pumpkin to make a batch of muffins and one more batch of cookies. It's supposed to rain this weekend, and I think I'm going to go buy as many pumpkins as I can to put in jars in the freezer to last me through Thanksgiving. Don't worry, I won't write about them anymore! I promise. (Well, unless I feel the need to share something else I bake!)
And no, I haven't been drinking; but, I am probably on a sugar high from all of the cookies I have consumed.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
It's a good day...it's a good day not...
Instead of picking petals from a daisy and saying "he loves me, he loves me not..." this vision popped into my head today...a vision of picking petals from a daisy and saying "it's a good day, it's a bad day." Tuesday...bad day. Wednesday...good day. Thursday...bad day.
More than one good day in a row would sure be nice! But I guess right now that is too much to expect. Whoever is reading this silly blog, just consider yourselves very lucky that I'm only mentioning when I have bad days and not actually forcing you to read why. I do sometimes secretly wish I could be like some of those drama queens that we all know and secretly hate who daily post about their woes on Facebook and then get 399 "Awww...poor you!" responses. But I just cannot do that.
Okay. Enough of that.
The best thing about my day (that really should override all the bad stuff) is this:
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a picture of the old book that I am updating in a trash dumpster. THAT above is the new one! Well, not the published version...but the first "ready for editing" version. I printed it today before I left work so that I can do the first edit over the weekend. When I showed it to my boss, I thought she was going to kiss me. Instead, she grabbed me and started dancing around the office. Oh yeah, that was a sight.
That's all I've got for today. I hope no one is sadly disappointed that I haven't gone on and on about a bunch of really stupid stuff.
Edited to add this:
I can't believe I forgot to write this because I was thinking of it as I was writing this post. One of my coworkers made my day today, almost more than printing off a copy of that book did. There is a section of the book that I have really struggled with writing the introduction to, and I've been working on it for way longer than I want to admit. Yesterday, I finished it just before I went home, finally, and I gave it to my coworker Jeanna to read. I asked her to be brutally honest and not be afraid to correct things. This morning, she came in my office with it and told me that she was in awe when she read it, that she wishes she could write things the way I do. It was the introduction to the chapter on all the different religions and ideas for readings, etc...something I knew absolutely NOTHING about when I started this project. It is the one chapter of the book that I have been the most nervous about, the one thing I felt the most unsure about. I'm my own worst critic. So hearing her say that, made my day. I also heard her telling another co worker how she was so impressed with how I wrote that. I don't normally pat myself on the back, but I did today. I should mark that on my calendar since who knows when it will happen again!
More than one good day in a row would sure be nice! But I guess right now that is too much to expect. Whoever is reading this silly blog, just consider yourselves very lucky that I'm only mentioning when I have bad days and not actually forcing you to read why. I do sometimes secretly wish I could be like some of those drama queens that we all know and secretly hate who daily post about their woes on Facebook and then get 399 "Awww...poor you!" responses. But I just cannot do that.
Okay. Enough of that.
The best thing about my day (that really should override all the bad stuff) is this:
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a picture of the old book that I am updating in a trash dumpster. THAT above is the new one! Well, not the published version...but the first "ready for editing" version. I printed it today before I left work so that I can do the first edit over the weekend. When I showed it to my boss, I thought she was going to kiss me. Instead, she grabbed me and started dancing around the office. Oh yeah, that was a sight.
That's all I've got for today. I hope no one is sadly disappointed that I haven't gone on and on about a bunch of really stupid stuff.
Edited to add this:
I can't believe I forgot to write this because I was thinking of it as I was writing this post. One of my coworkers made my day today, almost more than printing off a copy of that book did. There is a section of the book that I have really struggled with writing the introduction to, and I've been working on it for way longer than I want to admit. Yesterday, I finished it just before I went home, finally, and I gave it to my coworker Jeanna to read. I asked her to be brutally honest and not be afraid to correct things. This morning, she came in my office with it and told me that she was in awe when she read it, that she wishes she could write things the way I do. It was the introduction to the chapter on all the different religions and ideas for readings, etc...something I knew absolutely NOTHING about when I started this project. It is the one chapter of the book that I have been the most nervous about, the one thing I felt the most unsure about. I'm my own worst critic. So hearing her say that, made my day. I also heard her telling another co worker how she was so impressed with how I wrote that. I don't normally pat myself on the back, but I did today. I should mark that on my calendar since who knows when it will happen again!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Today has certainly been a mixed bag of tricks.
First the good:
*Tony was offered a TEACHING job today. Teaching! LOL My husband has never been a teacher. Last week, a recruiter sent him on an interview at a technical college in STL. He kind of laughed it off, thinking at least it would be good interview experience for him. He was surprised the next day when the recruiter called to tell him that they LOVED him, and that he was their leading candidate, he just had to pass a background check. Today, the recruiter called and said they want to hire him, but the salary was much lower than what he had been told last week. So now, they are negotiating on salary. I think he would be great at teaching, but he is still in a bit of shock. It's not only teaching, but he would also be the "department head." Strange. Very strange. Stay tuned to see what happens.
*I gave my co worker my LAST piece of writing for the book update that I have been working on for 3 years!!!!!! I know there will probably still be lots of little tweaks and things to do, but by tomorrow, she will be finished, I will be finished, and it will be ready for editing! While I'm glad to be finished, I have a feeling I will be lost without having it to work on.
*I made two nights worth of dinner when I got home from work. I started cooking sauce for lasagne when the oldest boy reminded me that I told him I would make chicken and mashed potatoes tonight. He has to work the next three nights, he hates lasagne, sooo....I made the chicken and potatoes, and made the lasagne. It is sitting in the fridge so that means I don't have to make dinner tomorrow night!
*I realized today that I only spent $27 on groceries this week due to all the stuff I found when I cleaned out my pantry.
Now, for the bad:
Well, actually, there really isn't anything bad. I just liked that title.
And the ugly:
This is good and ugly at the same time:
My sweet little pumpkin is in the oven filling my house with its wonderful aroma. I told my coworkers today about my little pumpkin, and I think they were drooling just thinking about muffins. I also told them about cleaning out my pantry and finding all of the bags of chips...and they requested chocolate chip cookies. So I guess I'll be busy baking later. I think maybe I will kill two birds with one stone and make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
First the good:
*Tony was offered a TEACHING job today. Teaching! LOL My husband has never been a teacher. Last week, a recruiter sent him on an interview at a technical college in STL. He kind of laughed it off, thinking at least it would be good interview experience for him. He was surprised the next day when the recruiter called to tell him that they LOVED him, and that he was their leading candidate, he just had to pass a background check. Today, the recruiter called and said they want to hire him, but the salary was much lower than what he had been told last week. So now, they are negotiating on salary. I think he would be great at teaching, but he is still in a bit of shock. It's not only teaching, but he would also be the "department head." Strange. Very strange. Stay tuned to see what happens.
*I gave my co worker my LAST piece of writing for the book update that I have been working on for 3 years!!!!!! I know there will probably still be lots of little tweaks and things to do, but by tomorrow, she will be finished, I will be finished, and it will be ready for editing! While I'm glad to be finished, I have a feeling I will be lost without having it to work on.
*I made two nights worth of dinner when I got home from work. I started cooking sauce for lasagne when the oldest boy reminded me that I told him I would make chicken and mashed potatoes tonight. He has to work the next three nights, he hates lasagne, sooo....I made the chicken and potatoes, and made the lasagne. It is sitting in the fridge so that means I don't have to make dinner tomorrow night!
*I realized today that I only spent $27 on groceries this week due to all the stuff I found when I cleaned out my pantry.
Now, for the bad:
Well, actually, there really isn't anything bad. I just liked that title.
And the ugly:
This is good and ugly at the same time:
My sweet little pumpkin is in the oven filling my house with its wonderful aroma. I told my coworkers today about my little pumpkin, and I think they were drooling just thinking about muffins. I also told them about cleaning out my pantry and finding all of the bags of chips...and they requested chocolate chip cookies. So I guess I'll be busy baking later. I think maybe I will kill two birds with one stone and make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
I get knocked down, but I get up again...
Do any of you remember those blow up punching toys from the 1970's...they were huge, as tall as a kid (or taller if you were a short kid, which I was not)...they were rounded and weighted on the bottom with sand so that when you punched them, they fell over, but then popped back and wobbled around a bit, kind of like a giant blow up Weeble, then finally would stand still...until you punched them again. I had one that was a penguin. It took a great deal of punching until one day my brother decided to see what happened if he hit it with a baseball bat. It wasn't pretty...the penguin didn't get back up because after a few hits, the side seam split open and the air squeaked out and Mr. Penguin gradually melted to the floor.
I'm starting to feel like one of those punching toys. I get knocked down, wobble around a bit before I gain some balance, and then bam! Knocked down again.
I know the purpose of writing this blog is to entice me to stay positive. And I will be oh so positive in just a minute. But I want to say first that I had a royally crappy day. I guess having more than a few days of feeling pretty good about things...and feeling calm and at peace...is a little too much to ask for.
Okay. Done. That is all.
Here's something that made me very happy today and pulled me out of my "I want to stomp my feet and cry" mood...the best $3 I've spent in a while! Get a load of this baby:
This afternoon, I left to go get Rachel from school after tryouts for a play. I was listening to a CD that a friend sent me last year that has inspirational songs on it. I was trying to put myself in a better mood, when all I really wanted to do was have a good cry or like I already said, stomp my feet while crying. I was driving by Dierbergs, a grocery store that I rarely shop at because it's so much more expensive than the other grocery stores around here. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I go there because they have lots of things you can't get at other stores. I decided to stop in to see if they had sugar pumpkins in stock yet. I've been stalking the stores looking for them, and no one has had them. For those of you who don't know what sugar pumpkins are, they aren't your average jack-0-lantern. Oh no. You cut the stem off, cut in half, scoop out the gooey stuff, turn it upside down on a baking sheet, and bake it until it's soft and squishy, and makes your house smell delicious, and then you scoop the pumpkin out of the skin and use it instead of canned pumpkin in bread or pies. I crave pumpkin muffins this time of year, and last year, I decided to buy a sugar pumpkin instead of canned, and I was hooked.
So I walked to the produce department, thinking that if I could just find a pumpkin, it would make my day. I didn't see any, and I asked the produce manager, who just happened to be stocking lettuce, when they would be getting them in. His answer was music to my ears: "Oh, we got some in today, I just haven't put them out yet!" So he went to the back and wheeled out a cart with a box full of sugar pumpkins, and I almost kissed him. I kid. I really didn't almost kiss him, but I did tell him he made my day. I'm sure he thought I must have been some crazy nut to be so excited over a pumpkin. When I got home, I drew a happy face on this little guy with a Sharpie, and it is sitting on my kitchen island waiting to be cooked later so I can make muffins tomorrow.
Finally one other thing that totally made me smile today. I had these beautiful hanging baskets of flowers on my front porch this summer. Six weeks ago, they looked like this:
They don't look like that any longer. The heat we had this summer was not kind to them, and even though I watered them every day faithfully, sometimes more than once a day, they slowly died. I took them down and they have been sitting in a corner of my front porch. I've totally ignored them. They haven't had water in 2 weeks. And this afternoon, I glanced over and saw this:
And now, I've sunk to a new low...photographing dead flowers. Hopefully, I will soon have more exciting things to write and post pictures about than trash dumpsters, feet, and pumpkins.
I'm starting to feel like one of those punching toys. I get knocked down, wobble around a bit before I gain some balance, and then bam! Knocked down again.
I know the purpose of writing this blog is to entice me to stay positive. And I will be oh so positive in just a minute. But I want to say first that I had a royally crappy day. I guess having more than a few days of feeling pretty good about things...and feeling calm and at peace...is a little too much to ask for.
Okay. Done. That is all.
Here's something that made me very happy today and pulled me out of my "I want to stomp my feet and cry" mood...the best $3 I've spent in a while! Get a load of this baby:
This afternoon, I left to go get Rachel from school after tryouts for a play. I was listening to a CD that a friend sent me last year that has inspirational songs on it. I was trying to put myself in a better mood, when all I really wanted to do was have a good cry or like I already said, stomp my feet while crying. I was driving by Dierbergs, a grocery store that I rarely shop at because it's so much more expensive than the other grocery stores around here. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I go there because they have lots of things you can't get at other stores. I decided to stop in to see if they had sugar pumpkins in stock yet. I've been stalking the stores looking for them, and no one has had them. For those of you who don't know what sugar pumpkins are, they aren't your average jack-0-lantern. Oh no. You cut the stem off, cut in half, scoop out the gooey stuff, turn it upside down on a baking sheet, and bake it until it's soft and squishy, and makes your house smell delicious, and then you scoop the pumpkin out of the skin and use it instead of canned pumpkin in bread or pies. I crave pumpkin muffins this time of year, and last year, I decided to buy a sugar pumpkin instead of canned, and I was hooked.
So I walked to the produce department, thinking that if I could just find a pumpkin, it would make my day. I didn't see any, and I asked the produce manager, who just happened to be stocking lettuce, when they would be getting them in. His answer was music to my ears: "Oh, we got some in today, I just haven't put them out yet!" So he went to the back and wheeled out a cart with a box full of sugar pumpkins, and I almost kissed him. I kid. I really didn't almost kiss him, but I did tell him he made my day. I'm sure he thought I must have been some crazy nut to be so excited over a pumpkin. When I got home, I drew a happy face on this little guy with a Sharpie, and it is sitting on my kitchen island waiting to be cooked later so I can make muffins tomorrow.
Finally one other thing that totally made me smile today. I had these beautiful hanging baskets of flowers on my front porch this summer. Six weeks ago, they looked like this:
They don't look like that any longer. The heat we had this summer was not kind to them, and even though I watered them every day faithfully, sometimes more than once a day, they slowly died. I took them down and they have been sitting in a corner of my front porch. I've totally ignored them. They haven't had water in 2 weeks. And this afternoon, I glanced over and saw this:
And now, I've sunk to a new low...photographing dead flowers. Hopefully, I will soon have more exciting things to write and post pictures about than trash dumpsters, feet, and pumpkins.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
I didn't intend for this to be a blog about cooking, but it seems as if that's what it's turning into. Probably because cooking is one of those things I always turn to when I'm stressed or I need to take my mind off of something. And the more work that is required, the better...no dumping out a box of brownie mix for me...that wouldn't have the same effect. What I really like to do is make things that involve lots of chopping and a huge mess when I'm REALLY stressed. I'm not really stressed right now, but there are definately a few paths I need to keep my mind from wandering down. The three things I have always used to sort of "nourish my soul" when it's in need of nourishing are writing, cooking, and gardening. I have the writing part covered. But, the heat of this summer has turned most all of my plants into the flower version of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, so there's not much point in gardening. All that's left is cooking. If only I enjoyed cooking low fat healthy things as much as I enjoy baking cookies and cakes and breads. And cookies. And brownies. And cookies.
This morning, I baked this for breakfast:
Orange cinnamon coffee cake. And the best part (well, other than how good it tasted) is that I had all the ingredients for in my pantry. I only ate 2 slices. Amazing, huh? I wish I could say I then took advantage of the beautiful fall-like morning and went for a long walk. I could say that, but it would be a lie.
A week or so ago, I wrote that I was going to start writing about things I love about my house. I wrote about a blog that I love to read where the gal does that every single week, and I have always thought it was such a cool idea. I was going to start last week, but I didn't have the chance to do it. And besides, nothing in my house was...shall I say, photo worthy. Actually, it was rather a mess. It's not anymore because I've spent most of the weekend cleaning. Well, when I wasn't baking that is. One thing I love about my house is my walk in pantry. It started out as a laundry room, and while it is an awesome pantry, it really sucked as a laundry room because it was way too small. A few years ago, I talked Tony into building a laundry room in the basement. Everyone thought I was nuts, but I've been so much happier not having to have my laundry spilling out into the kitchen on laundry day.
This morning I decided to clean out the pantry. Well, I should say *I* didn't decide...my pantry decided it needed to be cleaned. There was something in there that smelled, and for the past few days, I have been trying to figure out what it was. I couldn't find anything, so I figured the only way to find it was to clean the entire thing. Who knew that chopped pecans don't smell so great when they are old and stale??
Cleaning my pantry turned out to be a very good thing. Upon cleaning out a drawer, I discovered enough baking chips and chocolate and almond bark to keep me happily baking for a good long time. Check this out!
I found 12 (yes, TWELVE!) bags of Nestle semisweet chocolate chips. Twelve! The unfortunate thing is that all but one of them were opened with some of the chips missing. I guess I now know how my children satisfy their sweet tooth when there are no cookies or other sweets in the house. At least they were kind enough to put the partially eaten bags into small ziploc bags so they didn't go bad. I also found a Ghirardelli baking bar. Hmmm...wonder what I was planning on making with that? Guess I'll just have to come up with something. I also found 2 Nestle baking chocolate bars.
I'm almost embarrassed to tell what else I found in there. I will, but promise not to turn me into the show "Hoarders." Many boxes of pudding. Three boxes of pancake mix, 2 unopened. Four boxes of lasagne noodles. Three cartons of oatmeal. Four boxes of cornbread mix. And best of all...4 unopened bags of brown sugar. What was I thinking? The good thing though, is that I think I can make dinner nearly every night this week without having to buy anything at the grocery store but some meat.
Here is a picture of the fruits of my labor. My cleaned out pantry!
Are you starting to realize it doesn't take much to thrill me?
This morning, I baked this for breakfast:
Orange cinnamon coffee cake. And the best part (well, other than how good it tasted) is that I had all the ingredients for in my pantry. I only ate 2 slices. Amazing, huh? I wish I could say I then took advantage of the beautiful fall-like morning and went for a long walk. I could say that, but it would be a lie.
A week or so ago, I wrote that I was going to start writing about things I love about my house. I wrote about a blog that I love to read where the gal does that every single week, and I have always thought it was such a cool idea. I was going to start last week, but I didn't have the chance to do it. And besides, nothing in my house was...shall I say, photo worthy. Actually, it was rather a mess. It's not anymore because I've spent most of the weekend cleaning. Well, when I wasn't baking that is. One thing I love about my house is my walk in pantry. It started out as a laundry room, and while it is an awesome pantry, it really sucked as a laundry room because it was way too small. A few years ago, I talked Tony into building a laundry room in the basement. Everyone thought I was nuts, but I've been so much happier not having to have my laundry spilling out into the kitchen on laundry day.
This morning I decided to clean out the pantry. Well, I should say *I* didn't decide...my pantry decided it needed to be cleaned. There was something in there that smelled, and for the past few days, I have been trying to figure out what it was. I couldn't find anything, so I figured the only way to find it was to clean the entire thing. Who knew that chopped pecans don't smell so great when they are old and stale??
Cleaning my pantry turned out to be a very good thing. Upon cleaning out a drawer, I discovered enough baking chips and chocolate and almond bark to keep me happily baking for a good long time. Check this out!
I found 12 (yes, TWELVE!) bags of Nestle semisweet chocolate chips. Twelve! The unfortunate thing is that all but one of them were opened with some of the chips missing. I guess I now know how my children satisfy their sweet tooth when there are no cookies or other sweets in the house. At least they were kind enough to put the partially eaten bags into small ziploc bags so they didn't go bad. I also found a Ghirardelli baking bar. Hmmm...wonder what I was planning on making with that? Guess I'll just have to come up with something. I also found 2 Nestle baking chocolate bars.
I'm almost embarrassed to tell what else I found in there. I will, but promise not to turn me into the show "Hoarders." Many boxes of pudding. Three boxes of pancake mix, 2 unopened. Four boxes of lasagne noodles. Three cartons of oatmeal. Four boxes of cornbread mix. And best of all...4 unopened bags of brown sugar. What was I thinking? The good thing though, is that I think I can make dinner nearly every night this week without having to buy anything at the grocery store but some meat.
Here is a picture of the fruits of my labor. My cleaned out pantry!
Are you starting to realize it doesn't take much to thrill me?
Saturday, September 4, 2010
My baking mojo is back. Well, maybe...
This morning, Justin and Lauren had cross country practice. Tony left with them and Justin's best friend Sam at 7 am...I decided to make homemade pretzels for breakfast when they got home. (coated in cinnamon this time instead of just salt and butter).
Sooo...after I spent 8 hours (I mean minutes) doing this:
and this:
and this:
I put the dough in a bowl to rise for one hour.
And it didn't rise. AT ALL. Not even a smidgen. Even though I used rapid rise yeast. I googled to see what I could have done wrong...expired yeast? No, it expires in May 2011. Too much/not enough kneading...well, maybe not enough but I kneaded for almost 10 minutes, working up a sweat and wearing out my hands...water not the right temp...well, I did use a digital thermometer to check that...
Sooo...I decided to try again, with yeast from a different packet, that doesn't expire until September 2012. The second batch of pretzel dough is now hopefully rising on my stove as I type this.
Stay tuned. I'll either be showing a picture of cinnamon/sugar/butter coated pretzels or another bowl of dud dough that didn't rise.
This morning, Justin and Lauren had cross country practice. Tony left with them and Justin's best friend Sam at 7 am...I decided to make homemade pretzels for breakfast when they got home. (coated in cinnamon this time instead of just salt and butter).
Sooo...after I spent 8 hours (I mean minutes) doing this:
and this:
and this:
I put the dough in a bowl to rise for one hour.
And it didn't rise. AT ALL. Not even a smidgen. Even though I used rapid rise yeast. I googled to see what I could have done wrong...expired yeast? No, it expires in May 2011. Too much/not enough kneading...well, maybe not enough but I kneaded for almost 10 minutes, working up a sweat and wearing out my hands...water not the right temp...well, I did use a digital thermometer to check that...
Sooo...I decided to try again, with yeast from a different packet, that doesn't expire until September 2012. The second batch of pretzel dough is now hopefully rising on my stove as I type this.
Stay tuned. I'll either be showing a picture of cinnamon/sugar/butter coated pretzels or another bowl of dud dough that didn't rise.
Friday, September 3, 2010
I don't have much to write about, but my friend who has promised to "bug me" when I am slacking on my dancing in the rain festivities wrote to me last night and asked me where my latest blog post is, so....I'll see what I can whip up!
I'll admit, it's been a hard week, and I haven't really made any conscious effort to do anything even remotely considered dancing in the rain. I didn't play any games with the kids...I didn't cook or make anything fun...I don't need a pedicure...I didn't sit out on the porch and read...probably the most exciting thing I did this week was finally tell off a coworker who regularly pushes my buttons and sometimes royally pisses me off. I won't bore you with all the details...but she took her frustration with a situation neither of us had any control over out on me, in front of our boss and two other coworkers. For what it's worth, I was frustrated too, but I knew it was something that just needed to be dealt with, and there was nothing we could do about it. So after the boss looked at me like "what are you going to say about THAT!" (LOL...she always tells me I need to stand up for myself with her)...I decided I'd had enough. More than enough. And when I was finished, she apologized! For the first time ever. And then she apologized to me again when she was leaving for the day.
Sad that that is the highlight of my week, huh? Every day, there was just something that made me stop and chant to myself my new mantra: Thank God Tony is working again...I'm trying really hard to keep my trials of the week in perspective, and I guess that's about all the dancing in the rain I can do.
Speaking of Tony, I have to hand it to the guy. He's being a trooper. He does not like his new job. Every day he comes home and says it's boring. He loved his job at the zoo, LOVED it, and it was probably the most perfect job for him that he's ever had. He loved everything about it. So to go from that, to his job now, is not easy for him. But, he hasn't complained, he's been his usual cheerful self. I am so grateful for that...so grateful that he isn't crabby and taking his frustrations out on me or the kids, and he is always looking on the bright side of things. Hopefully, the job will get better, or something else will come up.
Last week, I had a couple of the most silly posts ever, today is probably the most boring. I just got nothin'. Working full time is kicking my butt, I can barely stay awake past 9, and work and family issues and stress is about to do me in. But, I think I am doing a pretty good job keeping it all in perspective. Or trying to anyway.
I'll admit, it's been a hard week, and I haven't really made any conscious effort to do anything even remotely considered dancing in the rain. I didn't play any games with the kids...I didn't cook or make anything fun...I don't need a pedicure...I didn't sit out on the porch and read...probably the most exciting thing I did this week was finally tell off a coworker who regularly pushes my buttons and sometimes royally pisses me off. I won't bore you with all the details...but she took her frustration with a situation neither of us had any control over out on me, in front of our boss and two other coworkers. For what it's worth, I was frustrated too, but I knew it was something that just needed to be dealt with, and there was nothing we could do about it. So after the boss looked at me like "what are you going to say about THAT!" (LOL...she always tells me I need to stand up for myself with her)...I decided I'd had enough. More than enough. And when I was finished, she apologized! For the first time ever. And then she apologized to me again when she was leaving for the day.
Sad that that is the highlight of my week, huh? Every day, there was just something that made me stop and chant to myself my new mantra: Thank God Tony is working again...I'm trying really hard to keep my trials of the week in perspective, and I guess that's about all the dancing in the rain I can do.
Speaking of Tony, I have to hand it to the guy. He's being a trooper. He does not like his new job. Every day he comes home and says it's boring. He loved his job at the zoo, LOVED it, and it was probably the most perfect job for him that he's ever had. He loved everything about it. So to go from that, to his job now, is not easy for him. But, he hasn't complained, he's been his usual cheerful self. I am so grateful for that...so grateful that he isn't crabby and taking his frustrations out on me or the kids, and he is always looking on the bright side of things. Hopefully, the job will get better, or something else will come up.
Last week, I had a couple of the most silly posts ever, today is probably the most boring. I just got nothin'. Working full time is kicking my butt, I can barely stay awake past 9, and work and family issues and stress is about to do me in. But, I think I am doing a pretty good job keeping it all in perspective. Or trying to anyway.
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