First of all...

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Running Running Running

I picked up this book from a used bookstore because I thought Patrick might like to read it. The main character is a girl, and so he has no interest in reading it.  So I'm going to take it to work and read it at lunch. This weekend we didn't have any big plans so I caught up on some work around the house and spent this evening cooking.  I made chili, as I like to do on Sundays during football season.  Now I'd like to share my recipe; however, I make it differently each week--depending on what I have on hand.  For example today it has Peppy Papaya Salsa in it, Wahoo Chili (the only staple in each batch) and some of the Flavors of India Seasoning Salt.  Then I chopped up an onion, three stalks of celery, added a lb of ground turkey, one big can of Red Gold Diced Tomatoes and 1 can of great northern beans because that is all I had besides garbonza beans.  Next week it may very well be totally different. 

Then again no chili next week, as next Sunday is 10/10/10 and that means I'm gonna go run the Chicago Marathon.  Now between not having the kids in day camp this summer and going back to work 9/1 I haven't been able to run as much in preparation as I would like for the marathon.  Therefore my only goal is to finish the marathon before they close down the race.  ( that would be after 6 1/2 hours).   My other goal is to be able to walk the next day w/o crying.  I can't wind up all super sore for a few days, so if anyone has any advice on how to avoid being sore after the marathon, PLEASE let me know! 

I can't believe it is almost time for the marathon, well actually, I can I signed up to run it ages ago. 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

End of September Already

Went right from work to get Anna from Daisy Scouts then home and then we went over to the Family Night at Bryce school.  It was Book Fair night so the library was crowded with lots of kids looking for books.  And a few parents.  I picked up Ruined: A Novel.  It takes place in New Orleans and I love reading stories set in New Orleans. 

Im going to say that I think in general, reading is better than doing dishes.  So that is why my sink is full of dishes right now.  It's a statement not sloth. :-D 

It's been really bad allergy weather for me the last few days, but today I 'gutted it out' and didn't take a Zyrtec, it helps with the symptoms but man does it make me spacey.  I really should get around to going to an allergist one of these days, right. 

Anyway, here is my thought for the day.  $100 bucks is the new $20. 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Still looing for 8 days a week.

Yes wouldn't that be nice?  work 5 off 3 still have 52 wks in the year, we'd all be younger.  Heck it could probably save Social Security, b/cause it would be longer b/4 we hit our 60s, 40s would be the new 60s LOL.

This month has been major time juggling, and I am still waayyy off.  I know this will come as no suprise but working out of the house really takes up a lot of time. LOL.  And the house doesn't clean itself, much to my dismay neither does the laundry.  So really I think I need a wife.

This week I started my getting up early and running plan only to be twarted by Tom's work on day 2 of my getting up early and running.  I decided that the best thing to do was to get up and run anyway.  So I got up at 530 and ran 3 miles instead of getting up at 530 and running the nice 6 to 8 miles I planned on running. 

Basically this week I discovered I have to get up before the dawn, which I am not a fan of, in order to get anything done.  This is why women are tired and cranky and have to invest in lots of undereye coverup!

K gotta run off to work now!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Golden Winter Soup

Saw Butternut squash at the grocery store and thought that soon it will be time to make my favorite soup ever. I was sure I blogged about it, but I just ran thru my posts and darn it if I couldn't find it. So I looked it up on-line and there is the link for it above. It's super super good. You must try it! From Cooking Light magazine!


I have the ingredients to try some new recipes I took from Food Network Magazine and some old Women's Day and Rachel Ray magazines. Here is the problem, I took out the recipes and put them in a blue file folder. And now I can't find it anywhere. Tom swears he's seen it, but tis no where to be found. Grr. I need the recipes to go with my ingredients! They were all new recipes and I have no clue how to make them w/o the recipes! Ack!

So tomorrow I am going for a long run, I need to get in 10-12 miles for sure, I haven't run since Tues! Good thing I ran 15 miles on Mon and 5 on Tues, never the less, not enough running. It's totally Tom's fault he golfed alllllllllllll day on Sat and golfed until 5pm today.

So then tomorrow much running, some BBQ and then everyone needs to get to bed early b/cause we all have work or school in the AM! I'll be starting week 2 at my new full time job where it is very quiet. And they pay me for my time. Quite different than my time at home rearing children. When you are raising your kids, it's very loud and you don't get paid. You don't get any vacation time either. Oh sure, your spouse may think when the family takes a vacation that you the mother is also having a vacation, but we know better don't we stay at home parents? Yes, a family vacation should be paid at time and a half and you should get PTO (paid time off) for every hour of the vacation!

Never the less, the kids are adjusting well to me working, and they only started crying when I answered the question, so will you be at my halloween party?

No, I won't.

But considering there is 1 of me and 3 of them at 3 different schools all of which have their halloween parties on the same day and time--two of them would be losing out anyway, so at least now they don't have hurt feelings that I didn't 'chose' to come to their party.

Golden Winter Soup Frm Cooking Light Magazine
Ingredients


2 tablespoons butter

5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)

4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 cup half-and-half

12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

3 tablespoons chopped chives

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat broiler.



Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.


Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Wine note: This is one vegetable soup that can easily handle a lighter red wine. Stick with the French theme and look for bargains from Burgundy, like Louis Jadot Pinot Noir 2005 ($20). This wine has pretty red berry fruit, great balance, and gentle tannins that make it ideal for lower-fat dishes. The underlying earthy, leathery flavors bring out the rustic nuances of the potatoes and squash. —Jeffery

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Anniversaries and Birthdays and Weddings

Happy Belated Anniversary to my Parents! They got to celebrate this year in their scenic new hometown of Blairsville, GA. 

And Tomorrow is my Favorite Virgo's Bday! 

Oh Ah! Such a Handsome Viking Vampire!
Wait, I just remembered Tom is a Virgo...So Happy Birthday to my second favorite Virgo! 
Snap, our friend Rocci's bday makes him a Virgo too.

Alright, Happy Birthday To My Third Favorite Virgo! *chuckle*

**************************
Late Yesterday I received my Fall/Winter Catalogs and the first bottle of Wahoo! Chili I've had in two years.  I wept with joy.  While it is still August--and def. not Chili Weather, I couldn't help myself and I made Wahoo! Chili in the crockpot. :-D

What I did:
2 tbsp Onion Onion
2 tbsp wahoo chili
1 tsp Garlic Garlic
about 2/3 lb of ground beef cooked and drained
1/2 a big green bell pepper chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1 28 oz can of stewed plum tomatoes, which I had to chop up b/cause I thought I had diced tomatoes and it turned out I sure didn't!

Put all that in the crockpot til dinner time.  Now I like my chili over macaroni noodles and I also love shredded cheddar cheese, but alas, there is no cheese in our house. 

There is no cheese, no wine and no chocolate.  I know!  How am I surviving?  Am I dieting?  Nope Just need to get to the grocery store.

Here it is simmering in the crockpot


As for Weddings, next Friday Tom and I are invited to an engagment party, downtown somewhere, with Club in the title of the place.  So we need to bring a gift, yes?  And what is a good engagement party gift?

Shameless Plug, by my Bro's album!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Dinner Talk

Now that school has resumed I'm making more of an effort to have family dinners because they say that family dinners help kids to get better grades and avoid drugs. And because I want a good routine with kids who get enough sleep to learn and behave at school. 

Tonights dinner was very interesting.  I say how was school today Anna.  Anna says, I saw K. on the playground and she said her little brother said the A word. 
Patrick says what's the A word? 
Anna replies "A*^h(le. "
I foolishly say: what did you say?
Anna says "A*&h)le.
Patrick says what is an A**h*le?
I explain and tell them it is a swear word and a very mean thing to call someone.

Then Anna says and then K. said her sister said the S word.
Bryce says oh I know what that word is, "Stupid" I say that is not a nice word.  That isn't the swear word though, if you listen carefully your dad says it too much.
Patrick: "oh you mean Shut it."
Me: No that's just rude, it's not a swear word.
Anna (did I mention this is her 2nd day in 1st grade)says: the s-word is Sh*t.
Patrick, age 10 and a fifth grader says: What is sh*t?
Me: Pooh
Bryce: LOL
And then Bryce said what is a swear word?
I elaborated on inappropriate words and how they shouldn't be used and how grownup say them but they shouldn't. So on and so forth.

Then Anna says the Fword is really bad. And I say yes it's really important not to say that one. 
Patrick: what's the Fword?  Fart?
Me: no, not that.
Anna: F&*K that's the Fword. Reem said I am a F*&K. 
Me; that is extremely rude and not true and it's not appropriate for Reem (also a 1st grader) to say.
Patrick: F*&k, F(*k
Bryce: F*&k, ?
Anna: F(*k, Like you know you say: "I hit my head on the door, I'm such a f*&k. 
Me;  Anna don't ever call yourself that, don't be mean to yourself.
Patrick: What does f*&k mean?
Me; You guys have to stop saying that word it's really inappropriate and not something kids should say.
Patrick: Well what does it mean?
Me: Sex, it's a rude way people use to say sex.
Bryce: That's when a boy is naked and the girl has their clothes on and they kiss and stuff.
Me: Well the girl would probably be naked too. Sex is something you want to wait on till your older.
Bryce: If you have Sex, you do it to have a baby, so if you want to have 3 kids, then you have sex 3 times.
Me. Some people have sex because they want to have a baby and some don't want to have a baby they just like it.
Bryce: ohhh
Patrick: how do they have sex and not get pregnant.
Me; well a girl can take a pill
Bryce: you have to be careful because you could have a baby if you have sex right? 
Patrick: gross eww gross eww
Me: Yes
Anna: sometimes girls like girls.
Me: Yes
Patrick: so if a girl was in love with a girl then how can they have a baby.
Me: They could use artificial insemination or a girl could have sex with a boy.
Patrick: Then when the baby is born, she could say to the boy, OK leave now, I love the girl and we'll take care of the baby.
Me; Well I suppose but that wouldn't be a very nice thing to do to the boy right?
Bryce: what about if 2 boys have sex where does the sperm go?
Patrick: maybe one of the boys would turn into the other boy?
Me: No, nothing happens you have to have a sperm and an egg.
Anna: what if a girl didn't have eggs and she had sperm.
Me: No, girls have girl parts and eggs and boys have boy parts and sperm that's what makes girls girls and boys boys.
Patrick: gross, ewwww, gross
Bryce: So if you and Dad have sex then we could have a baby?
Me: no your dad had an operation he doesn't have any sperm anymore.
Bryce (looking worried) does that happen a lot?
Me; No, it's up to the man.  You can have sperm your whole life.
Bryce: phew.
Anna: Can I be excused ? Can I watch Zoey 101 now?
Yes go ahead.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Pizza

So today is my birthday and I'm waiting on some pizza and red wine.  That's all I want, well actually I would like a couple say 2 or maybe 6 cupcakes devils food with white buttercream frosting and some sprinkles.  But the cupcakes aren't happenning because I didn't feel like going to the store today and getting any.  Plus it's only Tuesday and Jewel's Crazy Cupcakes is on Friday.  On Friday the cupcakes are $2.22.  On a Tuesday I think they are $3.99 or more. They are $2.22 good not $3.99 good.

For several hours today the boys got along famously and were talking and talking about the E-rated video game they are going to create that involves, Patrick Starfish becoming a werewolf, Zombie Sea Bears, Plankton having radioactive powers and minions and much much more. That was a nice bday surprise a few hours w/o kids fighting.

Okay don't tell anyone--but frankly I'm more excited about Wed 8/18 than I am about my birthday.  You know why? 
Nod.  You guessed it, First.Day.of.School!!!!!!!!!! Wooo Hooooo!!!!!

Coinciding with Anna's first year of full-time school is that Tom and I decided it would be a good idea for me to find a full-time job and then maybe in a few years --if he didn't get laid off like so many others out there--we would be able to save enough $$ to move down South, where it is beautiful and the winters aren't so dismal.

For the last month I've been submitting resumes and doing phone interviews and personal interviews and getting "Thanks but we've decided to go in another direction" emails from said interviews.  Looking for a job for lack of a better term, blows.  I've gotten many phone calls from companies looking for 'employees' to work 100% commission--who can do that? Thank goodness for the internet and sites like jobvent.com, turns out several of the companies I interviewed with are shady and their treatment of employees makes Wal-Mart look like employee of the year.  All of you out there looking for a job, I totally feel your pain!  It's brutal out there!

Right now I'm backing away from this whole "work full-time do Tastefully Simple on the weekends".  It makes much more sense for me to take the extra time the school year will afford me and rededicate myself to my Tastefully Simple business.  No cubical, no boss, no madatory overtime and I don't have to ask for time off to chaparone a field trip. I've learned I really really have it good, I can work on my own terms. I don't think I appreciated what a life sucking entity a job in 'corporate america' can be these days. I tell you, if I could hug my business I would.  Maybe I'll hug a beer bread?  Or my team members...Look out Team hugs coming your way! I'm very excited approach my business this fall with this new point of view

And I'm excited to share our new Cinnamon Syrup and Flavors of India Seasoned Salt with my friends, why?  Because they are all natural.  And different and fun to play with in the kitchen! I had the Cinnamon Syrup on a Fit N Active multigrain waffle from Aldi this AM.  I gourmet'd up frozen waffles!

Im working on reading a fun book for my next review on thesookieverse.com  Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom.  AND I'm looking to have an epic fall!  Lots of TS parties, the Chicago Marathon and I signed up for National Novel Writing Month :-D

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Exciting News!

Now when you see that, does it make you think Im gonna have another 1/2 demon child? 
Nooooo. Tho, I do love babies and dont mind newborns.

The exciting news is that I was asked to write book reviews for a blog!  I'm a contributing writer.

  I review Urban Fantasy, Paranormal stuff.  The fun books I love to read. My Book Review

Kewl, huh?  And I have 96 followers on twitter, which I am actually managing to use more frequently, not as much as Ashton Kutcher, of course. 

Today I made my favorite under $5 bucks dinner. Cheese and Bean Enchiladas.
1 can Enchilada sauce, red.
1 can fat free refried beans
1 package of tortillas
1 can of mexi blend corn
1/2 cup of the new Tastefully Simple  Peppy Papaya Salsa
1 tbsp TS Fiesta Party Dip
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese

I mix the beans, corn, salsa, and fiesta party dip together put it in the tortillas, drizzle on some enchilada sauce, sprinkle some cheese  then roll up the tortillas put them in a a stoneware baker then pour the rest of the sauce over all the enchiladas.  Lastly I sprinkle cheese on the top and bake it in the over for about 40 minutes at 375.

My future home.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

August begins.

Right now I am biding my time waiting for the golf lover AKA my hubby and Patrick to return from a trip to best buy and the golf store.  It is probably more like they will be going to a few golf stores until Patrick gets whiny and Tom decides to come home.  Once they do I'm hitting the road and going for a run.  A long run.  Time will pass quickly today on my run as I'll be listening to Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance.  Midnight's Daughter is about a Dhampir which is a 1/2 human and 1/2 vampire individual.  I know very odd.  How would a dead person procreate?  Maybe that will be covered in the book.

Today I realized that if I had $1.00 for everytime I thought, I should go blog, I should really try and blog everyday if I am going to have a blog, then I could hire a maid.  Ahh how nice that would be for me!

I have a little confession, I accidently bought a Calvin Klien dress off ebay.  See it was my size, looked cute, and was NWT (new with tags).  You could have knocked me over with a feather this AM when I won the dress for $15.51.

On the food front, Friday I made the new Tastefully Simple Homestyle Beef Noodle Soup, or at least I think that is what it is called, I'm not looking at the box.  Anywho , the directions call for 1 lb of sirloin cut into bite sized pieces and water.  For me, I thought that was too much sirloin.  So I went to Jewel and they had 2 6oz Filet Mignon (sp?) for $7.00.  So I got that and used one of the filets and I added about 1.5 cups of frozen peas.  I also added 1 extra cup of water and 1 beef bullion cubes to stretch the meal out more.  IMO, the soup worked out very well.  The 6 oz of filet was the perfect amount and the noodles didn't overcook and get mushy.  Today (Sunday) I had a bowl of the soup and by gosh, it tastes even better as a leftover!  Yum.  I think I'll be making this when the weather cools off this fall.

Now Tom has arrived home and I am off for a run!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Much going on

Went to a baby shower today, it seems like all of a sudden a plethora of people I know are having babies or getting married.  Such fun times, tho in this weather it's a tough time to be in the last trimester of pregnancy for sure. It's been now 6 years since Anna was born and I am amazed at all the new stuff they have for babies, all kinds of gadgets and gizmos.  And along with that I rec'd an email today from an author who wrote a set of books called The No Cry Solution as in The No Cry Sleep Solution and the No Cry Potty Training Solution.  Her name is Elizabeth Pantley and you can go to her website to find out if the books are for you, and find out how to enter her book give away as well as a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to Babies R Us, you can get a lot of gizmos (or one fancy stroller) with that!

We were able to go down to visit my brother and his wife and children including the cutest baby ever, my nephew B.  We also made our first visit to my parents new home. had german food in Helen, GA, climbed Brasstown Bald, swam in Lake Chatuge (sp?) and visited the lovely Ridges Resort . At the Ridges they have a wonderful chef AKA my bro. :-D
See some pics below!