Tagged

Wheee! I'm a day ahead on my blogging. That's cool. I can't believe I'm still doing the blogging. I purposely decided to opt out so I could avoid the mid-month drivel. Oh well.

I was tagged the other day from my friend Heather so I figured I'd post it on my blog (I guess it's one better than publishing my grocery list). It's not too long either. Original questions are in red, my response is in black...

4 Random Things I Like About Quentin (that's Heather's husband)

ummmm. He seems nice, but I don't really know him that well. I'll try my Bob...

4 Random Things I like About Bob

1- He makes me laugh hard at least once a day.
2- I can tell him anything.
3- He's a great dad.
4- Even if I cooked a bomb of a meal, he always pretends to like it.
5- (I had one more come to mind) He always makes me feel beautiful even if I look like a butt.

4 Jobs I've Had

(I'll choose my worst ones for fun)

1 - Collection Agent (that was just stinky- I would hit my goals though)
2 - Maid in a hotel (that was fun actually)
3 - Radio Researcher (I'd interview radio listeners to determine market trends- it was an in to the business)
4 - Waitress (I liked that job too)

4 Movies I've Watched More Than Once

I'm not a huge movie person but I'll see what I can do...

1 - Ocean's 11 (one of Bob's favorite)
2 - Some Pokemon movie that I sit and watch with the kids.
3 - The Christmas Story
4 - The Sound of Music (I don't currently have a copy and Bob hates musicals, but it could possibly be the movie I watched most as it was the first movie we owned when we got a VCR).

4 TV Shows I Watch

1 - 30 Rock
2 - The Office
3 - How I met Your Mother
4 - Heroes

4 Favorite Foods

1 - Chocolate
2 - Any Mexican
3 - Appetizers
4 - Good thin crust pizza with lots of good toppings

4 Places I'd Like to Visit

1 - Honduras
2 - China
3 - New Zealand
4 - Hungary

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to in the Coming Year

1 - Finishing the little details on the house.
2 - Selling my million dollar listing (I hope it happens this upcoming year!).
3 - Having a dog that is housebroken.
4 - Completely cleaning and organizing my attic and basement, it's driving me crazy.

4 People I Tag

I'll do this alphabetically since there is no preference.

1 - Beth
2 - Kim
3 - Kristina
4 - Tammy

and....

5 - Jen I. (She's newer to the blogging realm, and I figured I'd share the fun)

Birthday Bonanza

We're starting to gear up for the birthday season. It's a marathon of sorts where we celebrate five family birthdays within about fifty days, not to mention Christmas stuck in the middle. I'm usually beat by the end. Poor Bobby. His birthday is the last of the marathon and he's lucky if he gets a supermarket sheet cake and trip through the McDonald's drive-through. He's a good sport but I always feel bad about it.

Matt's birthday starts the season and he definitely sets the bar quite high. He's been planning his day (within his allotted budget) for over a month and just unveiled his plans last night....

Sleep in (I'm guessing to around 8).

Eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Hang out after breakfast for a bit maybe Pokeduel with his brothers.

Then go to an indoor bounce house facility and bounce for a while, then eat pizza there for lunch.

Go play at the pokemon league from 2-5 (free event- woo hoo!).

Eat dinner at Mighty Taco.

Come home and eat a rice krispy treat birthday cake (an Effie Morgan original) and open presents.

Have a camp out overnight on our living room floor.


Phew! It looks like I have a busy day ahead of me. Wish me luck!

You Have To Try This... Seriously.

I'm in love, I'm absolutely in love. Yes, also with my husband, but this particular love is for an amazing rice salad. My friend, Kristina, shared some with me and it was so good I had to make some for myself. Now it haunts me. I'm sitting at my desk finishing up some work, dealing with a constipated four-year-old, and dreaming about this wonderful salad. It's so good I have to share it....

Sir Wasaono's Infamous Indonesian Rice Salad

2 C cooked, cooled brown rice* (I used three cups of leftover rice from dinner the night before and adjusted the veggies accordingly)

1/2 C raisins (I used dried mangos- mmmmmm!)

2 chopped scallions

1/4 C toasted sesame seeds

1/2 C thinly-sliced water chestnuts (didn't have any, didn't use them)

1 C fresh mung bean sprouts (didn't have any, didn't use them)

1/4 C toasted cashews

1 large, chopped green pepper (I didn't have one so I used a seedless cucumber instead)

1 stalk chopped celery

fresh parsley

dressing:

3/4 C orange juice

1/2 C safflower oil (I used canola)

1 T sesame oil

3-4 T tamari sauce (I didn't have any so I used high quality soy sauce and a tsp. of sugar)

2 T dry sherry (didn't have any, didn't use it)

juice of 1 lemon

1-2 cloves minced garlic

1/2-1 t freshly grated ginger root (didn't have any, didn't use it)

salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients and serve chilled on greens (we just ate the rice mixture although served on greens sounds good too). Also we used only half of the dressing for the rice (using all of it would be too much). I'm looking forward to using the rest soon though!

It made about 6 cups of salad and was not nearly enough. It was scarfed down quickly (mostly by me!). Here's a photo of it before dinner. It had already been sampled by me, my mother-in-law, Pete, and Bobby...


If anyone makes it, let me know what you think and if you're in the area, share some with me!!!

Diet Tips

Ok... so I'm still playing catch up a little. Yesterday (today in the blog world) was (is) a busy day which included, a lunch meeting in the city, showing a house in the city, baking browines for my favorite veteran (no, it's not John Kerry), and taking the kids to visit a friend's house on their day off. I have had this image lingering on my desktop that I have wanted to share for a while. This comes courtesy of fail blog. My brother turned me on to this blog a few weeks ago and now it's part of my daily ritual. This image just struck me as particularly funny...


P.S.- Happy Veteran's Day!

First Snow

And so it begins.... It's pretty to wake up to but a little depressing. It marks the beginning of the downward spiral. This will melt, sure, but eventually it sticks and then we have to start shoveling our driveways, scraping our cars, and bundling our kids like Randy in "The Christmas Story". At least we're almost halfway through November, just five more months to go. =(

Puppy Pros and Cons

It's been over three weeks since Kiko arrived on the scene, and I've been compiling my little pro and con list the whole time. I even had a blog draft floating around for a week or so stating how much I hated fleas, tapeworms, and dog poop (who doesn't?). It's hard for me to accurately describe this experience without sounding like a mean animal owner who is not fit to care for a sea monkey. So after more contemplation, and a blog rewrite, I hope I can convey my thoughts correctly...

#1- I have recently realized I will never be a dog owner that puts my dog on the same level as humans. She is a second class citizen (or perhaps more like a red-headed stepchild). I need to not feel so guilty about that. I actually think it's better for the dog that it's more of an employer/ employee relationship. The only problem is that as an employee, she is still a bit insubordinate.

#2- I am annoyed when she destroys my home. When she chews on my baseboards, when she pees or poops on the floor (especially after I had just taken her out and she refused to go) it bothers me.

#3- I like her better at night than in the morning. When we let her out of her crate in the morning she is crazy with excitement and that is when her house training accidents seem to happen most. I'm not blaming her but it can make for a hectic morning. She also likes to chew on anything she can get at during that crazy time. I know I'm going to be barraged with training tips so save your keystrokes. We follow all the recommendations of our vet, books, and dog savvy friends, but she still has issues sometimes. She also gets ample attention all day, every day. Bobby contends I give the dog more attention than some of my kids. That might be true because my kids are not about to poop on my floor at any given moment.

In the evening though, after the kids are in bed, we are able to snuggle with her every night. She is really a sweet lap dog in that respect.

#4- She has a "chug" face you cannot stay mad at. No matter what she has done, you can't stay mad at her for long. It is quite cute...

#5- The kids love her. Pete and Matt also share some responsibility in taking her out in the morning as well. They are developing empathy and learning to care for a creature that is dependent on them. I love that, and it is wonderful to see.

#6- She's a great animal bargaining chip. If my kids ask for any animals, I just have to point at Kiko and state "We got you a dog... we're done.".

So after some analysis, I think we'll be fine. We do love her, but she's a lot of work. It's getting better though and hopefully, one day, she'll be housebroken and not so "chewy".



ps- I know I'm still playing catch up with the NaBloPoMo, but I'll get there!!!

Semi-Annual Drudgery

Every spring and fall I have to exchange my kids wardrobe for the appropriate season. I always seem postpone it for as long as I can because it is such a chore. The result is my kids are opting to wear shorts (because I have not packed them away) in 30 degree weather. It's ludicrous. My kids must have the warmest blood known to man which is ironic because I'm always freezing.

Anyway, yesterday was the day. I packed away the soccer jerseys my kids always seem to gravitate towards and swapped them for more respectable polos and sweaters. They have not yet discovered the discrepancy in their closet. It will be interesting to see how they react. I will no doubt have to hear their complaints about how hot they are going to be and how everyone wears umbros in December.

I think that's what I hate most about the chore. Besides it taking 4-5 hours to rotate, sort, and label the clothing, it's extremely thankless. Here's a snippet of the carnage it creates in my room. Not shown in the photo is all the clothing in the hallway slated for donation.


It's nice to have it behind me until spring. If you see my kids wearing sweaters in June though, you'll now know why.