Saturday, May 11, 2013

Mommy's Day Wishes

Hello all.  So I decided to come out of retirement for a special issue of my blog.  Before you all get super excited about reading more posts, I must fore warn you that this will probably be a "one hit wonder" for this year.  But, you never know when a pertinent subject matter will strike.  Pertinent to me of course, and hopefully enjoyable for all of you.
           First a disclaimer that no husbands were injured in the making of this post.

It all started a few days ago, about 5 to be precise.  My loving husband turned to me that evening and said, "Oh shit.  Mother's Day is Sunday.  Do you want all the cards and flowers and crap?"  Hmm, crap.  I can't ever remember in the long span of the history of my mother's days--there have been 2 before this year--ever asking for crap.  Believe it or not that statement got me thinking about what I actually want for my day.

Of course I expect to be showered with presents and gratitude for bringing these wonderful children into the world and so selflessly caring for them day in and day out.  Pampered? Check.  Adored?  Check.  Now that I have woken up from that fantasy here is the truth.

I would like a present, cards from him and the kids, and flowers.  Those are kind of a no-brainer.  (This year I picked out my gift and bought it myself.  Then sent said loving husband a text that he was off the hook.  Which I know he appreciated.)

Really though, I would like to sleep past 7.  To not have to wake up and immediately be hostess, waitress and chef for the diner that operates out of my kitchen. To get that would be awesome.  If you could throw in going to the bathroom with the door closed I would be ecstatic.  Every day is a constant game of dodge baby.  And no I can't close the door because who knows what he would get into or what his brother would do to him in the 9.5 seconds it takes to pee.  Instead I try to find some fantastic distraction then bolt for the bathroom.  Inevitably I end up with a 14 month old standing holding onto my legs trying to reach through them into the toilet.  If only I could hold everything in until nap time.  Lastly, I would like to not have to cook or clean up for one day.  Enjoy a nice glass of wine with my prepared for me meal followed up with a nice piece of italian pastry for dessert. Ahh, heaven.

To all the mom's out there that happen to read this, Have a wonderful Mother's Day.  I know I will :) Even if i design the day myself ;)

Friday, November 4, 2011

Let Me Tell You A Tale

Let me tell you a tale of market basket.  Okay, I know it seems like we have been down this road before.  But not unlike many roads around here, this one has had some construction and the route has been altered. 
We all know of my fondness for market basket, and more importantly my fondness for grocery shopping in general.  Some days I swear it is the bain of my existence.  But we must eat so I soldier on.  We were low on just about everything so I could put off the inevitable no longer.  I asked my adorable husband for an hour so I could go to my torture chamber without my adorable child.  Unfortunately the adorable husband had a prior commitment and could not afford me the hour I requested.  I pack up the adorable child and head out to conquer market basket.
The trip started off not too bad.  There was a stray cart abandoned near my car so after I parked I gathered that cart, stuck my cart cover on it, unloaded the child and off we go.  I am one aisle into the store when I realize that the cart has a hinky wheel.  Decision time....do I back track and switch cart or keep on keeping on.  I was not in the mood to fight the incoming stream of shoppers so I made the decision to keep going.  What the heck, at least I would get an upper body workout while I was there.  Jeff and I proceeded on to the deli and seafood counter.  Usually a cluster f*@#k but today not too bad.  I picked number 68 and they were on number 64.  I skipped to the seafood counter while I waited for my number to be called.  Of course I asked for my fish order just as the deli guy is shouting 68.  I am so good at multitasking that I was able to tell fish lady what I wanted then deli guy with little confusion.  That is until fish lady tries to give me .75 of a pound of fish when I asked for a pound.  I said "Its ok if its over".  So fish lady gives me 1.30 pounds of fish.  No big deal, haddock really does cook down anyway.  And if we are going to eat a large portion of anything I would prefer it to be a healthy food like a delightful flaky white fish.
We leave this section of the store and I wrestle my way through the rest of the store.  I really should have switched this damn cart!  Jeff has been his usual self.  Shouting "HI" to anyone within his view and the telling them he was "shopping".  This approach is met with mixed reviews.  Most people if of the elderly variety love talking to him.  Now we approach the dreaded check out lines.  They are dreaded for two reasons.  One is all of those stupid basket of crap they have as you enter the line.  Of course all of them are placed at the perfect height for a toddler sitting in the shopping cart.  So after I get hit in the head by a couple bottles of parsley I manage to get near the conveyor belt and start loading the groceries.  This is when my adorable child morphs into a frickin octopus.  I swear he grew an additional 6 arms.  Now that we are actually in the line he is at the perfect height for all of that candy.  I am trying to unload the groceries as fast as is humanly possible  and keep his hands in the cart.  Needless to say he grabbed the lip of the box of m&ms and pulled.  Ah, the joys of shopping.
We manage to make it outside with neither of us bleeding.  Once we get home he has to help me unload the groceries.  Its actually kind of cute because he tells me what every item is that he takes out of the bag.  And I don't have to bend over and empty them myself.  Okay, all the groceries are unpacked and we survived to tell another tale of market basket.
Let's skip ahead to 4:30.  Its time to start dinner prep.  I take the fish out of the fridge and open the package.  Holy crap!  Did fish lady sneak a little fish stink in there when I wasn't looking?  No doubt this fish has to be bad.  WTF!!!!  $7 worth of fish and I have to chuck it out.  Not to mention I am chucking out my whole dinner plans now.  Everything else has been put in the freezer for a later use.  Now I got food poisoning once when I was pregnant and I wasn't going down that road again.  As pissed off as I was I wasn't going to take any chances.  This is not the first time I have bought fish, go to cook it and find it to be bad.  I mean what do I have to do, ask to smell the fish at the counter before I buy it?  Don't get me wrong.  I so would.  I hate wasting money on food.
So now that I am digesting the pizza my adorable husband went out to get us, I managed to sneak in to the home office and type out this blog.  I hope you all enjoy the telling of the tale of market basket.  Like going there isn't bad enough, but to buy rotten food?  That's just the cherry on top of the sundae.  Til next time........

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Hold This and That

Went for a brisk walk with my little man this afternoon.  Brisk because of the gale force winds that seemed to be pushing us the whole way.  I knew it was windy before going out but it looked too nice to stay inside.  It was a very pleasant walk.  Perfect temperature, the wind didn't make you freeze and my little guy got to see all of his favorite sights on the way.  Thank you bus, ambulance and motorcycles for driving by us.
For dinner tonight is pizza.  I didn't feel the great urge to cook today so takeout it is.  I like to have a salad with pizza.  I feel like the roughage balances out the dough and cheese.  Lately I have resumes my love affair with greek salads.  Of course I can't just order the salad.  I have to say hold the olives and the onions.  I have never liked olives(texture issues) and onions can either agree or disagree with me and I usually don't have a say in the matter.  Some places all I get is lettuce and feta cheese.  Great salad you're thinking right?  But some places throw in a couple cucumber wedges and maybe a stray tomato.  If its a really fancy place they throw a pepperoncini on top.  Of course I don't eat those either.  Most times its lettuce and feta.  What I really like is the dressing.  If its a creamy greek dressing I am in heaven, the oil based ones are just plain gross.  I will avoid ordering whole establishments if they only offer their "house" dressing and its oil.  So, the moral of the story is I get a salad to balance the dough and cheese and end up eating lettuce and cheese with dressing on top.  Hmmm, I sense an oxymoron there.  Yup, welcome to my world.  Hold the sarcasm.  Until next time......

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Has It Really Been That Long??

Hey there!  According to the records of this blog I haven't posted since July!  Has it really been that long?  I guess facts don't lie.  Let me offer you my apologies and in the next breath tell you that I cannot promise consistency.  Not that my life is any more important or hectic than any one else's, but it is my life and I have the privilege of deciding how to spend my time.  Now don't get me wrong, I do love each and every one of you.  I am so grateful to all my followers for taking their time to read this.  But when its a toss up between spending time on the computer or spending time resting, I will most often choose resting.  Its really the only time of the day where I get to lie down and close my eyes.  As any mom of a toddler knows, this is vital to our sanity.  I promise to try harder and give all of you a small piece of entertainment in your day.
So rainy days make me want to bake.  This is my prime baking time of year.  It warms the kitchen and fills the house with such delightful aromas.  The issue is that I of course only bake what I like.  And if I like it I want to eat it.  On a cold rainy day what is more comforting then a warm baked treat?  I try to organize my baking with David's schedule at the firehouse.  That way I can have a little taste and send the bulk of it off with him.  If only the weather would organize itself with his schedule too then there wouldn't be any conflict in that area of my life.  And who couldn't use a little less conflict in their lives?  Mine seems chock full lately.
So, I am proud to say that I resisted the urge to make the oatmeal cookies that I have been craving.  Since I still have apple crisp left from my last baking extravaganza.  The good news is that its almost dinner time and my oven will be occupied by the turkey meatloaf we are having for dinner.  If I am not going to bake the next best thing is warm yummy comfort food.  Of course this recipe calls for ground beef and I am switching that for ground turkey.  I really try to limit the amount of read meat we eat.  Since we had steak earlier this week tonight its turkey.  I am sure it will be fine.  And the ground turkey was on sale this week.  I am looking forward to it.  I have to admit my favorite part of meatloaf is making meatloaf sandwiches.  Yummy!!  I think cold meatloaf is better than hot.  But that's just me.
Well there it is folks.  My newest blog since July!  Nothing exciting, but let's face it, I am a stay at home mom to an almost 2 year old.  How exciting can my life really be?  There are some exciting installments coming soon.  Stay posted.  Until next time.....

Friday, July 15, 2011

Danger Will Robinson

There was a tragedy at my house this morning.  No one was hurt but my toaster oven didn't make it.  Oh my beloved Delonghi toaster oven I will miss you so.  I know you're all probably thinking I am off my rocker but the truth is I did love that toaster oven.  I will give you the back story to the toaster oven.  I threw a little tv lingo in there.  Wonder how I am learning tv lingo?  That blog will come a little later.
Anyhow, I digress.  What a shocker!!! Please hold the collective gasp of amazement.  Now hold the collective smirk of sarcasm.  I digress again.  So, I got married at the ripe old age of 23 and subsequently got divorced at the ripe old age of 26.  When we split he took whatever had been given to us from his family or what he bought while we were married.  Which left me with a bed, bureau, couch and love seat.  I had no appliances other then the ones that came with the house.  I had no source of amusement other than books and my alarm clock.  This was obviously before the days of these smart phones that could have played music and games and whatever else you could think of.  This was also before wi-fi so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.  Soon after my court date my dad came to visit me.  He brought me a microwave that was extra at my parent's house and the toaster oven.  We then went shopping at Sears and he bought me a tv and entertainment center, I bought a DVD/VCR combo unit.  I could once again watch tv while sitting on the couch that I was able to keep.  It literally looked like someone had started moving in and hadn't finished yet.  But that was my home.  A few months later I bought my ex out for 20k and kept the house.  Best move I ever made.  Rolled my student loans, and car payment into the mortgage and I was financially stable.  Mentally stable was a whole other story.
So, that toaster oven was a gift from my dad.  It served as my main source of cooking when we renovated the kitchen in the house we are in now.  It made Jeff one meal or another at least once a day.  We had been through a lot together.  I knew the controls so well I could practically set it blindfolded.  David and I were in the kitchen this morning making breakfast.  He threw some toast in the toaster oven and went to the stove to cook some eggs.  All of a sudden I heard a snap crackling sound and I looked over to the counter.  I saw sparks shooting out of the control panel and smoke was starting to billow out of the toaster.  David rushed over and pulled the plug out of the socket right as the toaster fizzled out.  I was sad.  But grateful at the same time.  On many occasions I would throw Jeff's lunch in there then go get him from his nap as it was cooking.  That could have started a real fire.  Which would have been awful to say the least.  What the heck would I have done?? One can only wonder.
After lunch Jeff and I made the trek to Bed Bath add Beyond to purchase a new one.  Like I said I used it all the time so it had to be replaced immediately.  Much like when Jeff broke the coffee pot.  I had to go that day to replace it.  I did a little research on line and read some reviews to see what make and model had what I wanted.  I made a list to bring with me because Lord knows I would not have remembered them.  Now what irks me about BB&B is that their online selection is vast and varied.  Their store selection not so much.  They had 3 of the 6 that I had listed.  We all know that BB&B has 20% off coupons, which truthfully is the only reason I shop there.  And you can't use their coupons online.  And you have to pay shipping.  So even though I might like to purchase something from there online it goes against all my shopping principles.  Which means I have to make do with the store selection or shop on Amazon.com. 
There I am debating over whether to purchase a $99 dollar toaster oven or a $179 toaster oven.  Do I really need to spend that much?  If it lasts another 10 years it's worth it? Those controls look complicated, translation--David won't know how to use it.  Back and forth and back and forth I am tossing these options in my head all the while cursing that they don't have the other ones I wanted to see.  I made the trip to the store they should at least have the full selection on line.  Why don't you lose the whole section of Yankee candle and put in more small appliances?  Good idea, right?  I bought the $99 dollar Cuisinart.  It got mixed reviews but I have had Cuisinart coffee maker for 6 years now and have had no issues with it so I trust the brand. 
I like new things, I mean who doesn't?  But I am not crazy about new appliances.  I like the ones I have and would prefer just to replace it with the same one.  Now, I have to learn how to use the new toaster oven then show David about 40 times.  We'll see how it works out.  I'll keep you posted.  Until next time...........

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Who's The Judge?

Long time no see.  I guess the heat has gotten to my brain.  I have been very absent indeed.  I really have no excuse.  There is A/C in the room where my computer is.  I guess I am just kind of tired when I am running after Jeff all day that in the afternoon I like to kick my feet up and relax.  I have been trying to get through Pride and Prejudice without feeling like a complete moron, and there are some new summer time shows on TNT and USA that I have dvr'd.  I know, I know none of these things is more important than my readership.  Alas, my will power lags as the humidity rises.  Yet, let's not dwell on things of the past and just enjoy each others company now.  Says the one who has been absent.  Pish posh, let's move on.
So, I was talking to an acquaintance of ours today.  Back story is his wife left him and their child a while ago.  Like almost a year ago, a while ago.  Recently I saw a moving van in front of their house.  Using my best spy tool, which is taking Jeff for a walk, I managed to overhear the child saying that she was back.  Now I try very hard not to be judgmental and the truth is I fail more than I succeed.  Here is this guy looking happy, and talking about trying to work things out and I am thinking "What the hell is he doing?????"  Of course I didn't say that to him but I was thinking it the whole time I was talking to him.  I don't know if I could do it.  I don't know if I could take that person back.  I mean do you just forget all the heartache and not to mention what is it doing to the kid?  She's left before, what if she does it again? Obviously it is not my place to interject my opinions into anyone's relationships.  I have learned the hard way not to do that even if asked because the truth is that person just wants to vent not get your advice.  Even if they say, "I want your advice".  They already have a preconceived notion in their head and really they are just hoping that you agree with that notion.  Am I right or am I right?
I would like to be less judgmental of others.  Even if its simply to not comment on the atrocious outfit I see or behavior I witness.  It's a lot harder than it looks.  For now I am working on not letting my judgment show on my face.  I am a very expressive person so this is a monumental task for me.  I can only get better if I try.  So I try and try and the try some more.  Probably why I am too tired to blog.  Maybe not but it sounds like a good excuse.  Hey, don't judge me!  Ha ha.  Til next time........(and who the heck knows when that will be)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Quiet But Not Always Peaceful

I got some unexpected quiet time this morning.  David was heading out the door and Jeff was having a little fit because he wanted to be with his daddy.  This scene usually ends with David having to leave and Jeff waving bye bye daddy through tear stained cheeks a I try to distract him.  All while avoiding spilling my hot coffee on him because I am usually holding my I love mom mug when all this transpires.  But today David said put his shoes on and he can come with me.  I don't think anyone could get a pair of sandals on a toddler faster.  Don't get me wrong, I adore my son.  But morning quiet time is a precious commodity and I will not waste any opportunity to get it.  I get Jeff's sandals on and bring him out to David's truck and say, "Here you go.  He wanted to be with his dad.  Thanks!" David says to me, "Yeah he's sick of you."  Of course that leads me to ponder the question can your kids get sick of you. I will wait for all of you with older kids to get up from the floor when you fell there laughing and finish my thought.  Can kids this little really get tired of their parents?  I think it has more to do with the dad being the "fun"one out of the pair of us.
Anyway, I didn't spend too much time dwelling on it.  I liked the answer I came up with and I was alone so did I really care how I got that way?  Ummmm, no.  Ahhh, peace and quiet.  What shall I do?  Well the dishwasher needs to be emptied.  I can do that a lot quicker with Jeff gone.  Ok, that's done.  Now I can clean up the breakfast dishes and wipe down Jeff's high chair tray.  That's a lot easier without a toddler pulling on your legs or trying to push you away from the sink so you won't stand there.  That's always funny when he tries that one.  If only the dishes would magically do themselves.  Now off to change the sheets in Jeff's crib.  But I don't have time to wash his blanket before nap time and the spare is in the laundry too.  Shoot-guess that will have to wait.  Back downstairs to make my Target list.  Gotta figure out when to get there.  Probably Thursday since Jeff has his 18 month checkup tomorrow.  Ok, let's sit and enjoy your coffee now.
Damn, its gotten cold.  Dump that one out and make a fresh cup.  It doesn't taste as good if you warm it up in the microwave.  Now, let's sit and have a nice cup of oh the boys are back.  My quiet time is done.  And I didn't manage to sneak any peaceful time in there.  Oh well, at least I got some things done.  Now to get Jeff down for a nap and hop in the shower so I can scoot out to acupuncture.  Whoever said stay at home moms have it easy should have their own comedy central special.  Yeah, they are that funny.  Note the heavy sarcasm.  Until next time.......