Incubation Nation

Banality for a Monday

2012-01-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

I have taken photos of myself in my new eyeglasses! Regardless of any amount of adjusting I do, my glasses always sit crooked on my face. Either the bones in my nose are uneven, or my ears are misaligned, or every pair of glasses in the universe is flawed. I am not sure which, if any of these things are true.

In any case, if we were to meet, this is more than likely the me you would get:

My glasses are for working on the computer/reading. The only time I walk around anywhere with glasses on, is when I've just forgotten to take them off. This happened often when I use to work outside of my house. I'd catch myself in the mirror with the glasses, and it would be all " Oh, hai!! Glasses!" The one thing that does tip me off to wearing them unnecessarily is eating. Eating with my glasses on makes me straight up sick.

Anyway...I didn't need new glasses, since my prescription didn't change, but I've had my current pair for more than two years, and I was bored. I ordered 3 new pairs of glasses from Zenni. Not necessary, but fun. I am please with 2 of the 3 I got.

First, my regular BCBG Max Azria glasses that I paid a ton of money for over 2 years ago. Purple.

Next, Zenni glasses in green. The picture doesn't do them justice, but they are my favorite

Now, Zenni glasses in blue argyle. Different, but good:

Finally, these. They don't look right:

I think it's because they are supposed to be worn like this:

In all, I would give Zenni high ratings! I spent less than $30 for all 3 pairs of glasses. And now I can keep a pair in my office, a pair in my purse, and a pair upstairs for reading. I win!

Bullets

2012-01-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

• Lucy, Olivia and I have our big girls’ night on Saturday. It’s actually going to be a whole girls’ day, since we will be seeing Disney on Ice in the morning and having lunch with cousins afterward. From there I am hoping that Liv will take a nap and then we will go to do girly shopping. They each have a gift card for one of those little girl spas, so we may use that. There will be no Build a Bear this year, that is for sure. If you are unfamiliar with Girls’ Night, Bud, Hub and my brother are heading to Toronto for Monster trucks and since it is such a big deal, the girls and I always do something special.
• Now there is the issue of navigating the mall with Olivia. You may have heard me say this before, but I’m going to say it again. Liv is terrible. She has a mind of her own. She also has no fear. If I turn my head for one second, she will be hanging from a balcony, or running up the down escalator. I think I need to rent a stroller. Ours in on the rafters of the garage, and I know Hub isn’t about to get it down.
• Part of the reason we are even going to the mall is because Liv has had a major growth spurt, and her 3t clothes which already were just covering her belly and ankles are way too small. Guess which size Lucy skipped almost completely? If you guessed 4T/4, you are correct. So I am hoping to score some winterish clothes on deep clearance.
• Yesterday I was approached by the SVP of the group I am currently loaned to at work, and asked whether I would consider staying on with him at the end of the project. He’s not sure if it will be allowed, but wanted to know if I was interested before he pursued it—my 12 years of experience is invaluable, he says. I think I am interested. These people, this team…they make twice as much money as I do. Most of them have MBAs. I do not. I wonder if they pay for experience though? Unfortunately, our conversation was cut short. But between this, and my new side gig…2012 might be a very good year.
• I started reading on the treadmill, and it really makes the time fly. In the last 10 days, I’ve read Divergent, The Hunger Games, and am more than half way through Catching Fire. I never knew that “Dystopian” was a genre, and if I had heard it described before, I’d have probably wrinkled my nose and said “not for me”. But now I am hooked. Hooked, I tell you! I can’t wait to read more.
• I worked out 4 times last week, and followed my points and drank a ton of water. I gained 2 pounds. I’m less disheartened than you would think though. I can only do what I can do, right?
• Speaking of working out, I did add that fitness blog I talked about. No pressure to read it, but it is attached to my profile if you are so inclined.

Friday Stuff; Questions Answered; Pay it Forward Winner

2012-01-13T10:54:00.002-05:00

I am so glad that it is Friday and that we have a 3 day weekend! For some reason, this just seemed like a very long week to me. There is a wellness night planned at school this evening, but I am pretty sure that if the weather keeps up as it is, that it will be canceled. The bus was over 40 minutes late in picking the kids up this morning. Hub had my car and his trailer was hooked to the truck, so I couldn’t drive them. Instead we waited, waited and waited some more. Hub would have taken them when he got home at around 10 had the bus not shown up but thankfully it did, leaving Liv and me to play Dora and Pegasus (it was mostly her playing while I worked), until Hub got home to take her to pre-school.

I saw the eye doctor yesterday, and was pleased to find out that my vision is actually a little bit better since my last exam. No changes to my prescription, so even though it would be exciting to me, I did not spend any money on new glasses. I only wear them for computer work anyway, so it really would be a waste of money. I may order a few cheap pairs from Zenni though, just to change things up a bit.

Well, let’s get down to business, shall we? I had a pay it forward contest running for a week or so, and I got 9 entries. The In order to answer, you had to answer 4 questions, which I will answer now.

1. You are at a function with an open bar (think high end, not like a moose lodge or something). What do you order to drink? I always have a hard time knowing what to order. Usually, it’s either a glass of Chardonnay or Riesling. If I’m out specifically for cocktails though, I usually get whatever the specialty flavored martini is.
2. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast—as in if you could have it any time with no consequences, what would it be? What is your usual breakfast? I think my favorite would be a tie between French toast/waffle coated in butter and loaded with powdered sugar so that it makes like a buttery sugary paste (French toast and powdered sugar was my special childhood breakfast made by my dad and is a point of contention between Hub and me because he thinks it is disgusting and not healthy, and I say that powdered sugar is actually better for you than the old Aunt Jemima) , OR a sausage biscuit from McDonalds. No egg or cheese, just sausage. My usual breakfast is either a bowl of reduced sugar oatmeal, or a wheat bagel and a shit ton of coffee.
3. Who does the laundry in your house, and how often does it get done? We do laundry every Monday and Wednesday, and if necessary on Saturday. I wash and dry during the day, and the kids sort all of it and fold their own clothes in the evening. Lucy does Olivia’s clothes, and Olivia does towels and wash cloths. Hub and I each do our own folding and putting away.
4. Do you enjoy chewing gum? I am a hardcore gum chewer. My brand of choice right now is Stride and whatever the green and blue mint flavors are. I chew it with reckless abandon and I am a snapper. Hub jokes that the reason I work from home now is because people in the office were tired of hearing me chew.

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for! The winner of my pay it forward contest is:

Tess! Actually, the first winner was Swistle, but she excused herself from the contest, so it is Tessie’s lucky day! I will be emailing you Tess! Consider yourself WARNED.

Elaborating on the excitement

2012-01-10T10:36:00.001-05:00

Something very exciting happened to me this weekend. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know some of it anyway. I can’t give you all of the details yet, but I will tell you what I can.

Saturday while I was cleaning the house for Bud’s birthday party, I picked up my phone to check email (or come up with whatever stall tactic I could) and saw a note from the company that I consign with twice a year. They were looking for someone to blog for them and help them to expand their brand. I thought about it for all of 20 seconds before I came downstairs to use the actual computer (that never happens; I always email from my phone) to email them back with what my qualifications are, and what I think I can bring to the table.

Within hours I heard back from them and was made a member of their team. The compensation is small…this could never replace my job or anything, but it is compensation. I am really excited about it! At this time, I’ve decided not to share my personal blog with them, or anyone who may be reading what I have to say over there. Maybe that will change in the future, but I’m not sure that I am committed to removing content and making edits over here that would change the sort of image that I have of myself as a blogger. I like who I am over here. In fact, I changed my “About Me” a little bit. Maybe you could take a look and tell me what you think of it.

In the meantime, I’ll be figuring out what I’d like to say in my bio, and trying to get a good headshot of myself. I…may need someone to do some Photoshopping for me. Or not. We’ll see. Does Photoshop shave off chins?

I’ll let you know when I am up and running at the new place, and hopefully you’ll visit.

Paying it Forward-- You could be a WINNER

2012-01-06T09:48:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago, I can’t remember exactly when, I won a Pay it Forward contest over at Mama Bub’s blog. Her package arrived in early December with an array of goodies that I neglected to take pictures of, but there was an owl ornament, a mug, chocolates and a very nice black and white striped scarf and pair of gloves that I have worn almost every time I’ve gone out since. It was, in my opinion, the perfect assortment.

Now it is my turn. Christmas is over, and early January is one of my very favorite shopping times. We purchased all of Bud’s birthday gifts while Christmas shopping. I’ve refrained from participating in this round of the CDP exchange, and I am itching to just buy some stuff for someone already. I already have a few things tucked away, but I always like to tailor my packages to the winner.

So here it is, my January 2012 pay it forward contest. By entering, you agree to host a contest of your own at some point down the road. And in order to enter, I ask that you answer the following random sampling of questions, because I love questions and answers.

1. You are at a function with an open bar (think high end, not like a moose lodge or something). What do you order to drink?
2. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast—as in if you could have it any time with no consequences, what would it be? What is your usual breakfast?
3. Who does the laundry in your house, and how often does it get done?
4. Do you enjoy chewing gum?

OK! Today is Friday, and I will leave this contest open until next Friday, January 13 at 10AM EST. At that point I will draw a random winner, answer my own questions, and we will move on from there. So get moving and answer my questions! It will be fun! Plus you might win something! Yay!

2012 Resolve

2012-01-04T17:53:00.000-05:00

So yes, here we have it. The big resolution post. I actually only have a few resolutions, then I have a challenge, and then I have something of a 2012 bucket list. Things that I really want to do. Or things that I have convinced myself that I want to do, and will decide were a very bad idea later. We shall see. Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that I am not starting my new year until January 9th, so that’s when all of this will be in full swing. I am trying to make good choices in the meantime though, with try being the operative word. I joined Weight Watchers online yesterday, and officially began tracking points today. Tomorrow I will likely go to the gym. The little things, right.

So without further ado, here are my resolutions:

1. Drink more water: Like last year, this is not about drinking other things instead of water (although my coffee consumption could maybe decrease a bit). It is about remembering to drink water even when I am not thirsty. I’d like to install a water cooler in my office, but that isn’t going to happen, so the plan is to fill my 2 20oz bottles in the morning and bring them in to the office with me. I should finish those at the very least. Combined with the water I already drink at dinner, plus water when working out, I think I will be good to go. My goal is to drink 60oz of water each day.
2. Stay up to date on appointments: this includes my blood work, kids’ checkups and things of that nature. I am the biggest procrastinator and we all end up being behind because of it.
3. Make and stick to a weekly meal plan: I’m tired of running out to the store every day when we figure out just what it is we will be having for dinner. I want to get back in to cooking on my lunch break or crock potting so we are eating early instead of at 7PM, and having ingredients on hand to make things easier.
4. Be a better friend: Don’t misunderstand me here, I haven’t been malicious to anyone or anything, but it occurred to me recently that I have put no effort in to any of my friendships, especially with some of my oldest friends, for quite some time. I will make the first move. I will call and send notes. I will try and set up gatherings. I feel like I am losing people, and I am pretty sure that it is my fault.
5. Exercise for 30 minutes a day: It doesn’t have to be in the gym, or in a Zumba class. It can be a walk with the dog or fooling around with the kids. 30 minutes, even split out in to 2 15 minute chunks is doable.

And there you have it. 2012 resolutions. Now for my challenge. Since Lucy was born I have had chronic acid reflux. In addition to the fact that my esophagus is damaged, there are contributing factors that exacerbate my condition, and make it impossible for me to heal. I would like to be off of the meds once and for all. Weight loss will help immensely. In addition, I’ve sort of made a list of my triggers—the surefire things that are going to give me an attack regardless of whether or not I’ve taken the medication. They are: Heavy dairy products—think cheesecake, ice cream and cream based sauces, chocolate, and fried foods. What I would like to work out is a period of time…I don’t know if it is 30, 60 or 90 days…whatever where I eliminate all of these foods from my diet, and try to wean myself off of the nightly does of Zantac. I don’t know if it will work, but I am going to try it.

Finally, here is the list of things I would like to accomplish in 2012, hereafter known as Saly’s 2012 Bucket List

• Complete C25K
• At least consider running a 5k
• Redesign my blog and the header
• Add a second blog to talk about my fitness, weight loss and eating
• Start that coffee blog I keep talking about
• Take a weekend trip without Hub or the kids
• Take Lucy to the hobby shop and let her pick out whatever she wants
• Make a scrapbook with Lucy
• Start building the doll house that Hub bought me in 1999
• Take Liv on her own girls’ night…no sisters allowed
• Buy some cute earrings and actually wear them
• Curl my hair
• Have my eyebrows threaded
• Dabble in making my own cards WITHOUT the help and templates of an instructor
• Have at least 4 Bud and Mom dates
• Do something fun with my hair (spunky color or a feather etc.)
• Wear makeup when leaving the house at least 10 times
• Take my mother out to lunch
• Go sledding—and not be a worrywart the whole time
• Take the kids to the beach, even if Hub won’t go.
• Take Liv to the bounce place
• Camp with the kids in the back yard
• Tile the backsplash in the kitchen
• Let each kid help me cook when they ask
• Get a monthly pedicure when the weather warms up
• Figure out how to get all of our old photos scanned for a reasonable price, and actually do it
• Have a kick ass 10th wedding anniversary
• Do an overnight trip with my mom and the girls
• Make my own laundry detergent
• Send cards to people, just because
• Tell my parents and my brothers that I love them (we are not touchy feely emotion type people)
• Get on board with Hub’s plan to write a will and plan our burial (blech blech blech hate this one)
• Take more pictures
• Read more books
• Ask Hub’s grandma to teach me how to knit, and follow through on it

I may add to this list, but this is what I’ve had on my mind and on scrap paper for the last few weeks. Ambitious, I think. I’m going to add it to my sidebar and cross things off as they come. I hope you will wish me luck in my endeavors this year. I certainly wish you the best of luck in yours.

Happy New Year!

2011 Recap (aka Sadder, Fatter, Richer)

2012-01-03T10:26:00.001-05:00

Is this the longest survey ever, or is it just me? I had planned on completing it last week, but then all 3 kids came down with strep throat, which as you can imagine was an awesome time. Still, better than the barf fest that was Christmas 2009, so I am ok. I like this meme though, especially when it’s posted on blogs I am somewhat new to, because it’s a good way to catch up.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Worked from home full time. Put my feet in the Pacific Ocean. Spent a week in California for work and got to see many sites. Took up card making. Took up Zumba. Completed NaBloPoMo. Adopted a pain in the ass dog.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I did so well for the first half of the year with my fitness related resolutions. But then FIL died and our whole life changed and I fell off the wagon in a major way. Fitnessy resolutions=epic fail. What else did I resolve? Let’s see:
Make a Consistent Effort to Work Out: Yes in the beginning of the year, and I stuck to my 1x weekly Zumba at the end. In the middle? Not so much.
Drink Water: So so on this one. I don’t know how to remind myself to drink when I am not even thirsty. I can go entire meals without a beverage. This is touch.
Count Calories: Ha. Hahaaaa. No. though I do have an app for it.
Cook More from Scratch: Yes to this one. We still had our fair share of hamburger helper (I like to call it hamby helpy, and it annoys just about everyone in this house) and TV dinners, but I also made many things all by myself with no box.
Tell Hub When I Need Alone Time: I think so. I had quite a few nights out this past year, and you might not believe it, but spending 6 nights alone in a hotel room does wonders for the woman who is craving alone time.
Spend More One on One time with Each of the Kids: So so on this one too. Bud and I had one date in 2011 where we played mini golf and went to Build a Bear, just us. The girls with girls boys with boys dynamic happened much more often.
I do have some resolutions for this year, but they will get their own post. I’m not starting my New Year officially until this coming Sunday because today is my official first day back to work, thank you New Year’s Day (observed) bank holiday, and Bud’s birthday is Saturday, making that our last official holiday function of the year. So, my First Monday is going to be 1/9 this year. What with that extra day in February, I think it is ok.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
2 cousins.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Only our live-in 3rd parent/pair of hands. It has been nearly 7 months, and I still cannot believe FIL is gone. It is still unfathomable to me that he is not upstairs right now. I know he’s not, obviously. And yet…I don’t believe it.

5. What countries did you visit?
None. My license expires this year so at the very least I will get the enhanced license so I can travel to Canada.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Motivation. Willpower. A hot tub.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 14th, the day FIL died. I still remember the feeling of needing to sit down, lest I collapse the second Hub told me, and rushing the kids out of the house so they were gone before the police arrived. I remember changing from my pajamas in the McDonalds bathroom, and trying to keep it together so that the kids wouldn’t know anything was up, and sitting through gymnastics staring ahead at the wall wondering just what the hell we were going to do. It was probably the worst day of my life.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Managing to stay employed and meet without the confines of a regular office.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Fitness and eating well. I don’t know why those are the easiest things to talk myself out of.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope. I think my answer has been no for several years now. Which means I am due.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
The weekend away in wine country with Hub (and several bottles of wine), and we put a deposit down on a hot tub but that will be a 2012 purchase.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Again, Hub’s. There have been some really rough and dark days (Father’s day, anyone?) but he has been so strong and so great to the kids.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
If anyone would tell me exactly what was going on, I am sure I would say my soon to be ex-SIL.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage. Cars. Groceries.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Our Cedar Point trip.
16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
No idea.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Sadder.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter.
c) richer or poorer? Richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising. Spending time playing games with the kids.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating junk. Yelling, omg, the yelling.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
In the usual way: Christmas Eve with Hub’s Family and we had my family here for Christmas brunch. We stopped at my uncle’s in the evening.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
No, I don’t really think so.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
The USA Network really has a hold on me: Psych, Suits, White Collar. Also, Breaking Bad, Modern Family and Raising Hope.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.
24. What was the best book you read?
I really enjoyed The Help.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
None, really.
26. What did you want and get?
A composter.
27. What did you want and not get?
New furniture. That is definitely on my list for 2012.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Crazy, Stupid Love. Hanna. Our Idiot Brother. The Muppets.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 33. We dropped the kids off with my parents and had dinner and cheesecake. We left in the morning for our weekend away.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I’m not really sure.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
2011 could easily be described as “The Year I Didn’t Get Dressed”.
32. What kept you sane?
My Blog, The Twitters, Regular Girls’ Nights Out
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Howard Stern. Robert Downey Jr. Ryan Gosling (um, his abs. His face not so much.)
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
There were a couple local things, purchasing land near our local high school for a safer driveway etc. Nationally-Healthcare.
35. Who did you miss?
FIL. A lot. More I think because the kids have missed him so much.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
I don’t think I met anyone new this year.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
Sometimes you just need to suck it up and get things done.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Nope.

Surprise

2011-12-22T12:29:00.002-05:00

For the record, at about 3PM yesterday I almost tweeted “I don’t think we are actually going to a Christmas party”. But I didn’t.

A few weeks back, Hub asked me if I would mind going with him to a Christmas party that was being thrown by one of the big companies he does a lot of work for. He said things along the lines of “It’s a big deal!”, “They throw a lot of money my way, so we should go.”, and “All of their big wigs, from the STATE will be there too. This might be a good networking opportunity for you.”

So I arranged for my parents to come out and babysit, for my father to take Bud to his TKD belt test (as a note, if he works hard, he will be testing for his black belt in August or September), and to get done with work by about 3 so I could gussy myself up. Hub was acting sort of weird, very nervous and stressed out
(more so than usual), and something just seemed to be up. I’d read in the paper that Kenny Rogers was coming to town on Wednesday and I thought about it for a second, but figured we wouldn’t be going there because we saw him in concert a few years back.

Let me tell you for a second about my love affair with Kenny Rogers. It started in my teens…I don’t know what it is about him, but his voice just gets to me. And up until the plastic surgery, I thought he was one sexy hunk of man. He is still somewhat handsome, but in a weird way. Anyway, I have fond memories of driving down the east coast on summer vacations with my friend S and her family, with Kenny blaring on the radio. So yeah…I love my Kenny.

So my parents got here around 4:30 after I had spent an hour on my hair and makeup to impress these fancy people. My mother sort of looked at me sideways when I put on my nicest pair of heels (that I haven’t worn in more than a year since I don’t go to work anymore) and flexed my foot. “For the greater good”, I told her. I wanted Hub’s people to think I looked nice, that he didn’t have a schlub of a wife

Hub got home with Olivia at about 4:45, changed his clothes, and we left immediately. We’d talked about grabbing dinner before the party but hadn’t decided where. Hub drove like a mad man to get downtown in the foggy rainy early evening. By now I knew that he had a plan. Finally we pulled in to one of the “go to” fancy dinner places in the city. He’d made a reservation and everything, all by himself. Hub told me that it was hard to get a weekend reservation, and that he hadn’t known about Bud’s test when he set it up. He thought a nice dinner was a great Christmas gift as a treat to me; there was no party. The meal was fantastic. The wine was fantastic. We really enjoyed ourselves—and that is saying a lot. Neither of us puts much stock in big fancy expensive meals, OR our local downtown area.

At this point, I played along. Of course, dinner out on a weeknight was not my gift. Even the fanciest of dinners. That’s crazy. Like I said, I had read about Kenny coming to town in Sunday’s paper, but every time I thought I was putting 2 and 2 together, Hub threw a curve ball. It wasn’t until we were actually outside of the music hall that I knew for sure. And once we were inside, we ran in to some friends of ours, and were able to pass the time until the show started by talking with them. The show was good. ½ classics and ½ Christmas songs. Kenny had great charisma, though I did recognize a few of his bits from the last show we saw…and I think that was in 2007. Even if the show had been horrible, the people watching at the event was EPIC. There were interesting people out in full force. One guy in the front row had to be subdues on several occasions because he was just so in to it. The same guy changed outfits at intermission, from regular clothes to a red Christmas shirt. Hilarious. And one of the ushers, a little old man in a Santa cap, was up and down the aisles like a crazy person warning people with their phones out that they would not be allowed to take any photos. Then after the show started was pouncing on anyone who had a camera/phone out. That being said, this was the only photo I got:

Surprise or not, it was an amazing night. I am a lucky girl. Had I known in advance though, I wouldn’t have worn those darn heels.

Oh Crappy Day!

2011-12-19T07:17:00.007-05:00

I arrived home very late on Saturday night/Sunday morning to find that my Crappy Day package from Misty had arrived. I took it downstairs and did not remember it in my sleepless state yesterday. When I turned my computer on this morning, there it was! Surprise!

Misty's instructions were to open anything in Christmas paper before Christmas, so that I did. There were also a few unwrapped items. Just look!!

The tree is filled with mint truffle Hershey's kisses, and the bear is an special reminder of where Misty is from.

The rest of the goods

The first package I opened was these ornaments. How did Misty know I'd just printed a bunch of photos?

Then there was this, to use in the owl mug she sent me a while ago:

And some candy and cupcake adornments!

And finally, an owl candle:

I almost can't wait to have a bad day so I can open something else! Whee!!!

Thanks, Misty!!

Weekend Successes--aka The Longest Post Ever

2011-12-14T10:17:00.004-05:00

I am actually putting off writing a fitness-y health kick type post, which isn’t so much “health kick” as it is “I need to be cured of this acid reflux once and for all and that means avoiding my triggers for 3 to 6 months to give my whateverthehell time to heal”. If I don’t write it, I don’t have to do it, right? Not really, but I need another day to collect my thoughts on the topic. So there’s that.

This past weekend I had 2 successes in the kitchen. The first was the amazing pasta dish I threw together on Saturday. I was reading Food Lush last week and came across this post. Cheese, chicken, bacon, pasta, and ranch. It sounded good, but I wasn’t sure that Hub would be on board. He can be weird about flavors melding together. I pitched it though, and he was all for it. When it came time to cook , I didn’t have my mini laptop handy and for some reason, I couldn’t get to the recipe on my phone, so I decided to wing it. Everyone knows I never actually follow the recipe anyway. I did, after tasting the finished product, make a note of what I did though so I could replicate it in the future. It was so delicious! I ate it with gusto. (I’ll add the recipe to the end of this post)

On Sunday, we made cutout cookies. Cutouts stress me out more that decorating the tree. There are children doing what they are not supposed to be doing. There is a mess. My dough never works. It is a trifecta of error. We’re working on being more calm around here though, so I approached the cookies calmly, even though I started them later than I had wanted to and Hub was griping that the basement was never going to get clean. The first thing I did was look up a new cookie dough recipe. The one I use from my Betty Crocker cook book calls for both powdered and granulated sugar. The cookies are always very sweet, and I think the powdered sugar is what makes the dough crumbly. I did a little bit of searching and ended up going with the simplest recipe that got the best reviews from All Recipes. This is the one. I don’t know if it is because of the 4 eggs, or what the deal was, but these cookies were so easy to put together. And when it came time to roll, after chilling for a few hours, I had no issues. The dough rolled like a dream and cut well. I was in awe.

And here is what else I did to east my stress. Rather than sitting 3 kids down at the table and making it a cookie cutter grabbing free for all, I rolled and cut cookies with each of the kids separately. It was delightful. There was no fighting. It was perfect. I enjoyed spending the time with them! I followed suit with the decorating, though Bud and Lucy were able to do theirs together and mostly on their own while I made dinner. I have never been more relaxed during a holiday activity.

There are no photos of the actual rolling process, but here are some from decorating. You can see that Liv really had a thing for eating the frosting and not so much decorating. Hub took the ones at the end, and even though I look like…well like I was baking all day, I like them. I love when I can make things work for our family.

(These were all taken with my phone which is why the lighting looks a bit wonky)

Finally, here is my recipe for the chicken bacon ranch pasta bake. This made enough to feed my family of 5 with leftovers for 3 lunch portions. Even my super picky eater declared that he "liked the pasta and even the chicken was good"! (He picked out all the bacon. Because he is not my son.) We served it with steamed broccoli and garlic bread.

1lb rotini noodles, cooked and drained
½ lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2-3 cups dairy liquid of your choice. (I used a mix of milk and half and half)
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
3 tbsp ranch powder
1 tbsp Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (this is my secret ingredient in EVERYTHING)
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra cheese for sprinkling on top

1. Melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and stir, cooking until bubbly.
2. Add in 2 cups of your dairy liquid. Stir with a whisk constantly until it comes to a teeny boil and thickens.
3. Add the ranch powder (I noticed that the ranch powder thickened the sauce a bit, which is why I say 2-3 cups of dairy—you may need to add some more in this step)
4. Remove from heat and stir in cheese a little bit at a time until all melted and combined
5. Stir in the Garlic Garlic, salt and pepper
6. In a large bowl, or in your noodle pot if you are me, combine noodles, cheese mixture, bacon and chicken. Stir until all noodles are coated
7. Transfer to a baking dish and top with extra cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until it is good and bubbly.

Make this. Your life will be changed.

"Light Errors"

2011-12-08T11:48:00.001-05:00

Let’s start by making it clear that I am not talking about an error with lighting here. I’m talking about something that rhymes with light errors that involves a child waking and screaming throughout the night. I don’t want to come up in any search engines. So now that we’re clear, I’ll move on.

We’ve only noticed it completely in the last couple of months. Liv has always been a poor sleeper, waking several times a night to be covered, whining or just gritching about uncomfortably. It’s escalated over the last few months though. Yelling. Crying. Speaking incoherently. It happens more nights than not, and you can’t wake her up. She’s never been terrified, and for that I am grateful. Usually it’s just general discomfort and angst. We figured she was working some things out in her sleep. She…doesn’t get her way a lot because her way is usually unreasonable. And it feels like it is us against her a lot of the time. But as her sleep has gotten worse, we were really starting to worry, and I wasn’t sleeping because I was up with her half the night while she screamed and thrashed.

I had planned on making an appointment with her pediatrician to discuss all of this, when she ended up getting a sinus infection and we had to go in for a sick call anyway. We went through all of that, and then I brought up the sleep issues. I told the pediatrician everything—and seriously, bless her, she sat and talked to Hub and me about all of it for 45 minutes. On a day when we were just an add on appointment, we must have screwed up her whole day. Just because she is not fearful doesn’t mean it isn’t light errors, apparently. She’s definitely trying to work things out that she can’t or doesn’t when she’s asleep. The doctor went on to give us some tips for trying to stop them before they start, and right there is where I have some issues.

Liv by nature is a very difficult child. She is a limit tester. She believes that her way is the only way. She will stop at nothing to get her way. And even when she knows she will be punished, she will still do what she wants to do. She would rather get her way and accept the consequences than not do what she wanted to do in the first place. So there is a lot of Liv being in some sort of trouble at any given time. With all of this in mind, here are the doctor’s suggestions:

1. Let her have her way more often. If it’s not dangerous or causing problems for other family members, try letting her go. Hub and I are really big on rule following up in here. One of our big ones is that nobody gets up from the table until we are all done eating. This is one of the examples the doctire used. Just let her go. I…struggle with this.
2. Eliminate things that potentially make her nervous. We were thinking along the lines of the dancing Santa, who she wanted out of her room because she didn’t want him to see her being bad. The doctor recommended that we walk her around the house and ask her what makes her nervous and then show her that we were getting rid of it. The first night we walked around, and a dirty pair of underwear she’d left laying around made her nervous. Then last night, it was a Santa hat she’d left on the floor. She’s yanking our chain.
3. Even if she doesn’t eat any dinner, let her have a snack before bed. If Liv eats 2 bites of dinner any given night I consider it a success. I have a hard time getting behind letting her snack when she doesn’t listen and our rule is no dinner, no snacks. This one is workable though…I can get past my issues if potential hunger is affecting her.
4. Don’t let her watch any TV with scary images. This one is not hard either. Bud watches a lot of Star Wars and while it doesn’t seem scary, and while Liv’s favorite song to hum is the Imperial March and she wanted to be Luke Skywalker for Halloween, we’re putting a temporary ban on the movies while she is awake.
5. Don’t yell at her at bedtime. Even if she gets up and calls to be covered 247 times, keep it relaxing and calm. This one will be hard. Like I said—she is a limit tester, and she is SMART. She will figure it out if suddenly I am soft. Bedtime has never been the best time of the night for her, and even after you give her everything she wants, she still gets out of bed and needs things and is just generally obnoxious.

So last night I let her have a bowl of cheerios at bedtime even though she ate dinner. Then I sang her 5 songs instead of the agreed upon 3, I cheerfully covered her 4 times, and let her get 3 drinks from her water bottle. She slept all night. This may be a fluke, because her antibiotic makes her tired. It seems like we’re going to have a lot of trial and error going forward, but the plan is to try and stop them before they start. And thankfully, Shannon has given me some tricks to help Liv when the errors do happen. So I guess we shall see what we shall see. But hopefully we can make some progress, and all of us can get some sleep.

Long Weekend; Answering Questions

2011-12-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

It seems like we had such a long weekend! I had 2 nights of drinking way too much wine, and I am paying for it today, let me tell you. I rarely drink to begin with, and I never drink 2 nights in a row. It didn’t help that Liv cried and screamed in her sleep all night Saturday, either. I have a call in to the doctor about her. I wouldn’t classify what she has as night terrors, per se, but something is going on. And when you add this to her already established sleep issues…well nobody is happy. The ENT we saw when she was 1 said to expect her to need tonsils and adenoids out at around 3 or so. I’m wondering if this has anything to do with that. Ugggh.

So anyway, I’m tired. Really tired. But I do appreciate you answering my Saturday questions, and now I will answer them for you.

1. What is your favorite kind of pop tart?—Brown sugar cinnamon. Yumm. I should have asked whether or not you toast yours as well. I usually don’t. I like them “raw” out of the box. They have to be Pop Tarts brand though. No generic ones for me. And really? I never eat them. The Kid’s have pop tarts on their breakfast list (yes, we have a pre-determined list…it is necessary for my sanity) once a week. And I try to buy enough only for them.
2. What kind of car do you drive, and why?—More often than not, I drive our Ford Freestar mini-van. She is old and has no air conditioning, but is the best method of transport for 3(often 4) kids and gear. This is also what I am most comfortable driving of our 2 vehicles. Since I am at home now though, and Hub drives all over the place, it’s often more practical for him to take the mini-van, leaving me with the F150 to drive to school and back, or up to Tae Kwon Do. I don’t mind driving the truck, but I really hate to park it.
3. If you had to pick one pair of shoes to wear every day, which pair would you pick, and why?—In the winter, certainly my Uggs. I am on my second pair now, my first lasting me for 2 winters. They are so comfortable and warm. If money were no object, I would have them in all styles and colors. And the thing of it is, that I used to be against them. I’d be all, “oh, look at that girl and her Ugg Lees!” But then I came around to the fact that they could be worn with just about anything, didn’t need to be pulled up over leggings, AND that you weren’t even supposed to wear socks with them. BONUS! I’ve never looked back. I love my Uggs.

Feel free to answer if you haven’t already!

Questions for Saturday!

2011-12-03T10:31:00.001-05:00

And why not? I'm sitting at gymnastics and I've wanted to try my Blogger app anyway. So here are my questions this week:

1. What is your favorite kind of pop tart?
2. What kind of car do you drive, and why?
3. If you had to pick one pair of shoes to wear every day, which pair would you pick, and why?

Happy Saturday! I hope you have a great weekend!

Friday Free for All

2011-12-02T16:52:00.003-05:00

• I actually completed NaBloPoMo! I can’t believe it. It felt good to not have the pressure of writing yesterday, but I really enjoyed doing it all month.
• I had the weirdest dreams last night and the fact that I remember them in such vivid detail seems even more weird. The first was that my best girlfriend was renewing her wedding vows. I’d assumed that she was having her daughters stand up in her ceremony, but the wedding party was exactly the same, except for me. Yet I wore the same dress as I did as her maid of honor. And so did her other bridesmaids and my random replacement. It was awkward. Then I was at the kids’ school and the principal called me out and asked me to leave because my sneakers looked like bowling shoes. She said it was inappropriate. And the third one was that we had a get together at Hub’s cousin’s house, and on her book shelf was an 8x10 photo of Swistle’s kids. I asked how Cousin knew them, and she said that Swistle was her husband’s cousin. I was excited, and immediately emailed Swistle to tell her we were kind of sort of related! And Swistle said no, that was not the case, but that she sold a bunch of 8x10 photos of her kids at a garage sale and now people everywhere were claiming to be her relative.
• I was so tired today, I’m assuming from all the dreaming, and because Hub worked all night and I don’t sleep well when he’s not here, that I took a 45 minute nap on my lunch break. It was necessary. And I am still exhausted.
• Lucy lost her 1st tooth at school today. Then she swallowed it. Her teacher had to call me to talk her down because she was so upset. We remedied the situation by telling her she could write a note for the tooth fairy, AND by reminding her that she was the 1st student in December to lose a tooth. She’s been waiting forever to be on a lost tooth list, just like I waited forever when she was a baby for her to be on the “We have __ teeth” poster at daycare. She was 11 months old before she even had any teeth, so of course she is losing them later than her friends. Now, she is just fine:

• We had our first snow this morning. It’s already melted, but there is more to come. Hub took this picture and captioned it “Even Frosty is sad about the end of Fall”:

• I’d like to think about going to blog conferences in 2012. I’m sure I could swing it, but…I don’t know. The whole concept makes me nervous. And how would I explain where I am going to someone like my mother who cannot ever know that I blog?
• I was so excited to finally send off my CDP the other day! I’d been piling stuff in to a tote for what seemed like forever and when I couldn’t fit anything else, I sent it off. I hope the recipient likes it! I know I would. (In fact, I doubled up on a few of the gifts for myself)
• We are mostly done Christmas shopping. Hub and I are not getting anything for each other since we bought the new TV. Kids are mostly done, and we have some gift certificates for my parents to buy and a few things for the other kids on our list. Can you believe that Christmas is 3 weeks away??

The way I do it

2011-11-30T09:17:00.010-05:00

When I ask my kids to pose for photos, it turns out one of 3 ways.

Cheesed and posed (although even cheesed and posed, she is still gorgeous):

Eyes closed/Weeeeird:

Angry (someone has green eyes when he is annoyed/angry):

I have taken to hanging back and taking shots from behind or from the side and really, these have become some of my favorite photos. I have plenty of pictures of them smiling happily, right in to the camera. Capturing how the light hits someone's hair, or the excitement in their step, or watching them take something in when they don't even know you're there...there is just something about it.

Check it out:

Second grade revisited; Teacher conference frets

2011-11-29T12:38:00.001-05:00

Second grade for me was when I really decided that I hated school. Not coincidentally, this was the time when play time ended, and real, actual school work began. I hated second grade. In fact, I still feel claustrophobic when I think of sitting at my dining room table and writing number after number on a sheet of paper. We had these long strips, and each strip was to have numbers written, something like 50 to a strip, up to 1000. 1000, people! If I even think about it now, I start to hyperventilate. I hated second grade, and most grades of elementary school thereafter. I remember sitting there, just being bored all the damn time. And never writing down my homework assignments. And seriously, just not giving a shit.

And now we cut to 26 years later where my own child is in second grade. He’s doing wonderfully, although he hates that he has to read specific books rather than something he would choose (Star Wars) on a nightly basis, and struggles with writing down his homework. Generally though, he likes school. I have a problem with his homework. So much of it is of the “complete with your parents” variety and it’s making me crazy. I swear, I am having flashbacks. The thought of doing second grade homework makes me twitch. It’s all in my head, I know. But it is a big struggle for me to not let my anxiety out when sitting at a table completing work with Bud. It’s hard, man.

***
Related to school, I have 2 problems with our teacher conferences that I am not sure how to address. I asked what Bud needed to do to increase his effort marks from 3’s to 4’s. The teacher advised that most everyone gets 3’s because they do a lot of group work. It’s not one specific thing that Bud is doing or not doing. This kind of blows my mind. Not that we’ve given him any sort of hard time about his report card, but we have just sort of assumed it was because of his lax approach to everything in the world. He’s the kind of kid who does most things well without trying. So we assumed that Lucy’s 4’s were because she does things very well, but often has to put in a lot of effort to get the results she wants. Now that theory is all shot to hell. And I know it’s not a 1st grade compared to 2nd grade thing, because Bud has had the same teacher for both years.

The second problem was with Lucy’s conference. I love her teacher, I love that Lucy loves school, and I love that Lucy does very well in school. Here is what her teacher said to us “I meet with each student daily to talk about their progress in their reading and writing. The exception is Lucy, who I meet with maybe once or twice a week. She is so far ahead that she doesn’t need it. And she doesn’t mind that I spend the time with the other students. She enjoys working independently.” Now I know Lucy, and I know that this is true. If you tell her to work with her sister to get her room cleaned, she will insist on doing it herself because she can do it better alone. Here is my problem: there will come a point when she is no longer so ahead of the curve. What if you’re so confident in her abilities that you miss it? I mean, this is probably not something that I have to worry about in 1st grade but situations like this bring out the worrier in me. I love my independent over-achiever. I do not want her to slip through any cracks.

(long) Weekend Recap

2011-11-28T17:05:00.000-05:00

Oh what a very long weekend. It was a good one though, that is for sure.

Wednesday was a kick it in to high gear cleaning day, basically making the house presentable for our Thanksgiving guests. Hub was supposed to install the dishwasher that day as well, but things came up like they always do (things like bailing his brother out of jail for a suspended license and having to get his work truck out of impound) , and it never happened. I’d also wanted to have out photos hung but we didn’t get to that either. Bud and I went shopping alone for some last minute food items. I made pies. I scrubbed the tub. Not that our guests were going to be in the tub, but I could not in good conscience leave it with its grey ring around the bottom lest someone open the shower door and see it. So the tub. She is sparkling white. In all though, it was a relaxed cleaning experience. We were really already pretty well on top of things, based on the last few weekends of getting Important Projects out of the way.

Clean house coupled with a late dinner scheduled because my father was working, allowed us the opportunity to laze a bit on Thanksgiving morning. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and watched the parade. This is the first year the kids were legitimately interested in it, I think. I prepped the turkeys then and had a little bit of down time before I was going to start in on the side dishes. This of course, is when Hub decided to install the dishwasher. And guess where the parts were? Oh, they were in the minivan that was left at the impound lot in order to drive the work truck home. Yes, they were. So he went and got them, and thankfully the actual dishwasher setup only took about 30 minutes, but of course was finished just as my parents arrived and the contents of my under the sink cupboard were strewn across my kitchen floor. That was the only glitch of the night though. We had a fabulous meal, fabulous desserts and played games. I was a smart girl and waited until after our guests left to start drinking.

I did regret drinking after midnight come Friday morning though. We had to be up early because Bud signed up for a day camp at Tae Kwon Do and had to be there at 8. We’d planned on having Liv stay home for the day, but since Hub was already going out, and since her daycare was doing a day long pajama party, we decided to send her. As soon as they were out the door I went back to bed. Moments later Lucy woke up, but she was happy to crawl in to bed with me. Hub did some black Friday shopping at home depot and brought us donuts back from the cider mill. After he picked Bud up at noon, the 4 of us went and did our huge bulk shopping at BJs, picked up my minivan from the impound lot (eyeroll), and by then picked up Liv. The weather was gorgeous—not typical November in Buffalo weather at all—so we decided to have a fire in the yard. Hub heated up the turkey fryer and he, BIL and I had chicken wings, fried fish and potatoes. The 4 kids roasted hotdogs. Through this, Niece looked sort of off. She had a cold, but you could see her going downhill fast. When I brought the kids inside, she had a 102 temp. It was time for her to go. Niece is notorious for throwing up when she has a fever. And thankfully, she didn’t throw up until she was back home with her father.

Saturday was once again, absolutely gorgeous. We’d already decided that we were cutting down our tree that day, so really the weather was a bonus. I found the perfect tree pretty early on, but Hub and the kids hemmed and hawed over it, and we ended up walking the majority of the tree farm before we ended right back where I’d led them to begin with. We’ve found that this is the sharpest tree we’ve ever had, but it is sturdy and holding the ornaments well. It’s also not making me nearly as itchy as trees we’ve had before. It was a good choice. We had plans Saturday evening to go to our friends’ house down the street, so we and the kids went and just hung out. It was a really nice time, and we were home around midnight.

On account of not having very much sleep over the course of the long weekend, I’m assuming, Liv was very overtired and tossed, turned and screamed all night long. Finally I just slept in her bed with her because I was tired of getting up every 10 minutes. We slept in a little bit longer than we should have on Sunday, considering that we had plans to meet Hub’s cousin and her family at the movies by 10:30, but it was necessary. We made it in time, and saw The Muppets. It was so so so good. I can’t remember the last time we enjoyed a movie so much (although Bud insists that he just hates Muppets). From there we went to lunch at Friendly’s, shopped for new tree light at Target, and came home and decorated the tree. I even kept my rage pent up as the kids put the ornaments in all the wrong spots. The best part? Liv was in bed by 7:30, and she slept until 8:30 this morning. That happens, um, never.

We really did have a great long weekend though. It was very hard to get back in to the swing of things today, for sure. But the next long vacation is only 3 weeks away!

The Good Stuff

2011-11-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today is the end of another week! Can you even believe it? Here is my good stuff:

-I received part 1 of my CDP from Misty. Just look! Magnets!

-I got this in the mail from Another fine gal

-I sucked it up, swallowed my fear and called Keurig thanks to Erica, and got a brand new working mini-brewer on Wednesday.
-Liv ate her entire dinner more nights than she did not.
-Bud started reading Superfudge (even though he hates it...it brings back memories for me)
-Lucy and I were able to take a trip to the library alone.

What was your good stuff this week?

Questions for Saturday

2011-11-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is the last Saturday of NaBloPoMo. Will the questions continue? I do not know!

So, Thanksgiving is over. Let's move on. But first:

Did you do any Black Friday shopping?
If so, what did you score?

And also:

Will you be decorating for Christmas this weekend?
Are you in Full Blown Christmas Mode yet?

Our plan is to go and get our tree today or tomorrow. I'll have to get back to you on whether or not that pans out.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today, on Black Friday, I'd like to direct you to the post I wrote on my old blog after Thanksgiving weekend 4 years ago. This was back when we still went somewhere for Thanksgiving, and then I cooked the whole meal for us on Friday. This was just before I found out we were expecting Liv, when I still had in-laws, when niece was a baby and had a chance, and when Bud and Lucy were still so little. Isn't it crazy how so many things can change in such a short period of time?

Here is the excerpt about my mixer, in case you aren't clicking over:

All night on Thursday, Ed was talking about getting up early on Friday to go pick out a laptop. Circuit City had one on sale for $300. I told him he could do what he wanted so long as he didn’t wake me up. So he got up and went and when I woke up he was sound asleep back in bed. When we got up, he said that he hadn’t even gone, and I had no recollection of him leaving, so I believed him---until I went outside and saw a Dunkin cup in the car that I knew was not there the day before. I asked him f he was sure he stayed home and he insisted that he had. Anyway, Eddie got up and asked for some cereal and when I opened the cupboard, there it was, my new Kitchenaid stand mixer. For the last 2 years, any time I’ve mentioned getting one, he’s said no. It’s too expensive. I’ll never use it. So to say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I actually burst in to tears. Over a mixer. I am a lame ass.

I still say the mixer was the VERY best gift Hub ever bought me.

Required Thanksgiving Post

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have so many things to be thankful for today, but really it all comes down to these 4:

I truly couldn't be a luckier girl.

Blah.

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am up very early this morning. I am writing this before I've even had any coffee--so beware. I fear that if I don't just get a move on, nothing will be done in time for Thanksgiving. We aren't eating until later tomorrow though, since my dad has to work, so that will be a help. We've been so busy cleaning and reorganizing these last couple of weekends--so really there is just surface work to be done, but still it is all overwhelming. Hub is busy with people trying to squeeze in cleanings before the holiday, and today, he is going to install our dishwasher. Now, when I said I would like for it to be in use in time for Thanksgiving, I did not mean that he should wait until the day before to get it done. But here we are, and he has worked all night, and is back at work now, and hopefully later today we will have a working dishwasher, and not a gaping hole in my floor or cupboards, and hopefully nothing will have caught fire.

I'm not the type of person who feels pressure to have a completely spotless house, are you? I say good enough is good enough. And if you want to judge me for it, feel free. If the floors are swept and vacuumed, the counters and table are clear, the bathroom is shiny, and we've at least feather dusted, I am all good. I'm not a housekeeper, you know? I'm a mom, with a busy life, and I have better things to do than to scrub my grout with a toothbrush, or wipe my baseboards obsessively, or worry too much about the clutter in the kids' rooms.

I think you'd be very comfortable here. You might get some cat hair on you. But the comfort...it will be undeniable.

Train to Crazy Town

2011-11-22T17:06:00.001-05:00

I am just having the shittiest of days. It’s “that time” and I’m crabby, the dog tore up my office garbage this morning, and I am privy to some family information that was not disclosed to me by the family member involved so I have been in the position of answering questions and acting like I have no idea what’s going on, when I do in fact know way more than I should but nobody can ever know that I know and have known all this time, (that’s maybe a bit cryptic…just not for the blog but I’ll tell anyone who wants to know) and the pressure is making me so stabby! And speaking of stabbing, seriously, if I don’t stab my mother before Thanksgiving is over, it is going to be a miracle. And then I had to have my thyroid bloodwork done today because I waited ‘til the last minute, and am out of refills like always. So it was today, or go down that slippery slope I always go down of randomly being off my thyroid meds and basically taking a trip to crazy town.

Anyway…

If there were ever a probable time for me to get in to a fist fight, it would have been at the blood draw lab today. They have this system where you can make an appointment online, and even though they still take walk-ins, appointments are guaranteed to go first. This way, I assume, they hope to avoid having their patients waste their entire lunch hour hanging out in their waiting room. This appointment system has never failed me until today.

I arrived for my 12:10 appointment at 11:55. There was one non-appointment maker in the waiting area who, by the sign in sheet, had arrived one minute before me. By their design, I should have been seen first. But I wasn’t. So, I stewed a bit when at 12:10 PM the other gentleman (if you could call his burping snot swallowing gentlemanly)back in to the room, but wasn’t going to make a big deal. In the meantime, another guy came in and signed in. It was 12:20, 10 minutes past my appointment time, but I still had plenty of time. No Big.

Finally the tech came out and called my name. I stood up and then she said to just wait a second because the other man had an appointment. And that is when I got a little bit pissy since I also had an appointment, AND I had been waiting for 30 minutes. “But”, she told me, “his appointment was for 12:00 and yours was at 12:10.” Then I went from straight up pissy, to ENRAGED. I was here for 30 minutes before this guy even walked in! He showed up 20 minutes PAST his appointment time. He missed his appointment!! She says “Ma’am, I can’t prove that he was here any later than you were.” THE SIGN IN SHEET! “He signed in at 11:55 as well.” The hell he did. So if he showed up at 2PM, would you take him before all of the 2PM appointments, since his appointment was scheduled for 2 hours before? “Well no, we’d consider him a missed appointment.” This is not different! He was not here for his appointment! “Well, I can’t prove that ma’am and his appointment was first.” So I flung myself back in to my waiting room chair, like a surly teenager and waited my turn, even though my turn had already passed.

I really wanted to storm out of there, but they already had my lab slip, and I’d already wasted almost an hour. And then of course, I ended up with that same tech drawing my blood. I was sure she was going to jab me or something because I had made a scene, but she didn’t. Though now I am convinced she’s going to tamper with my blood. We’ll know if I get any weird calls from my endocrinologist tomorrow.

My Questions Answered

2011-11-21T10:07:00.001-05:00

Ugh, I have not felt this blah in a very long time. There is no actual malaise to pinpoint---I just plain don’t feel well. I did have a migraine for a bit yesterday, but it passed. Mostly I feel tired and foggy. I’d really just like to take a nap. It is a good thing I have some questions to answer, because otherwise, I’d probably whine on for this entire post. So! Here’s to hoping that I start feeling better, and here are my answers to Saturday’s questions. Feel free to answer for yourself if you didn’t get a chance to over the weekend.

1. White meat or dark meat? White meat, please! I like to save the dark meat for soup and turkey salad sandwiches though.
2. Gravy or no gravy? Gravy, and lots of it. I like to have gravy over everything, with a little pool for extra dipping right in the middle of my plate.
3. Do you call it stuffing, or dressing? And what kind does your family eat? (cornbread, sausage, oyster etc.) I don’t know why, because I am sure that nobody else in the North calls it this, but I say dressing. About 5 years ago I started making cornbread dressing from scratch and I have never looked back. So delicious.
4. Cranberry sauce? Yes or no. Nope. I don’t care if it is fresh or from a can. I do not like it either way.
5. What is your one cannot live without Thanksgiving dish? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert? Main entrée? That is tough, because seriously…all of it. I think if I had to pick one thing it would be the dressing. Or my mom’s creamed cucumbers. For dessert, it has to be pumpkin pie and it has to be absolutely slathered with cool whip.
6. Who are you spending Thanksgiving with this year? I am cooking for Hub, the kids, my parents, my brothers, BIL and BIL’s girlfriend. That’s…a lot of people. I’ll have a 24lb turkey in the oven, and Hub is frying a smaller one outside. Still, I’m sure there will be way too much food.

**oh, and a note on my Good Stuff post yesterday-- I received our package of Christmas cards in the mail on Friday. I did not mail them out on Friday. I'm not a psychopath!

The good stuff

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's the end of another week! Here are a few of this things that have made me happy this week:

*Putting together our Christmas cards, and getting them in the mail on Friday.
*Starting the OCM with some of my favorite Twitter friends.
*Putting the finishing touches on my crappy day package.
*Spending Friday and Saturday Christmas shopping with Hub.

What was your good stuff this week?