Kangareux Macaroni

I'm allergic to the world and a corn free recipe.

2013-09-07T14:46:00.001-07:00

First the allergy fun: I just finished 4 rounds of allergy testing, as in 4 allergy testing appointments with skin prick testing all down my back and some times with shots down my arm too. Round 1 was vindicating, but not helpful. It showed I was allergic to grass and trees. It was vindicating in that anyone who has ever been annoyed with me refusing to touch grass (i.e. sit in the awful stuff) can now, kindly go choke on something.

Allergy testing round 2: LIFE CHANGING. Not fun. I had an anaphylactic reaction to the testing. It was delayed so I left after the testing and had to come back in. The short version: 1 week on a hefty dose of prednisone, a RX strength antihistamine, an OTC antihistamine, crap tons of albuterol (nebulizer and rescue inhaler). The biggies were household dust and animals. No more denial about being allergic to the geriatric cat. The other realization: OOOOH SO THAT'S WHY I ALWAS FEEL SUPER CRAPPY WHEN CLEANING AND AM USELESS AFTER!!! I've changed how I clean and now get more done and have some energy left over (DO NOT DRY DUST, PEOPLE! BE SMARTER THAN ME!). Also my husband has started helping with the housework I shouldn't be doing so much (dusting mostly). Huge run on: And I've been using the HEPA vac and the carpet cleaner a lot more and there's a HEPA filter in the bedroom and I've been using this allergy spray stuff, washing bedding more often attacking the cat with Simple Solution cat allergy stuff and allergy wipes and just plain getting out more. WHEW that was long.

Round 3 (which was delayed over 2 weeks to make sure I was fully recovered from round 2): Amazingly was pretty uneventful (I was allergic to some stuff but not enough to knock me out for 2 weeks).

Round 4: FOOD!!!! GLORIOUS FOOD!!! They did 52 skin pricks on this one. I was so very, very scared. The food allergies were the reason I went to the allergist. Amazingly, no horrific reactions! They weren't able to test for all the foods I suspect (this is probably good, I'm just assuming allergic to them for now). The biggie here was CORN. I'm not very allergic to it but it's in EVERYTHING. I MEAN EVERYTHING. Not just corn syrup and corn starch, EVERYTHING!!!! My freaking toothpaste had corn in it, shampoo, 3/4 of the food in my house, etc. I'm allergic to some other foods too but they're easier to avoid (shellfish, avocado, rye, melon). I'm trying to avoid food I'm allergic to to see if it makes me feel better.

I'm anxious for the follow up with the doc. I'm hopeful that she'll say not to worry so much about the corn allergy so that I can occasionally eat at a restaurant, buy produce somewhere other than just the farmer's market, eat occasional cheese. It's 100 degrees out and since I'm avoiding corn, I can't eat ice cream, fml. I'm obsessing over it. This can't be healthy, right?

Anyway, I'm trying for 1 week to not eat anything I'm allergic to (tried last week and failed daily, DAILY). We'll see. I'm going to eat some weird things this week, I think.

Corn free recipe 1: Bastardized spring rolls! <--yummy and completely unlike spring rolls aside from the roll part)

Rice wraps (Greenland brand rice paper--they have rice and tapioca)
tofu--one package(careful--some of this has CORN IN IT!) I found one that I think is corn free. This should be soy you stupid companies.
Flax seed--about 2 tsp
Coconut oil about 2 T
fresh green beans from the farmer's market--around 5-7 (the ones at the store are probably covered in corn or ripened artificially with corn because 'Merica must put corn in everything, for funsies!)
cilantro
basil (both fresh and from farmer's market/homegrown)

Slice tofu, and beans as desired. Cook tofu, beans flax seeds in coconut oil. Prep rice paper per package (you soak it for a few seconds). place small amount of tofu, beans, flax in rice wrapping (I didn't drain the coconut oil). Add sprigs of basil and cilantro. Wrap it all up like a tiny burrito, and repeat until you've used up all your filling.

My family liked them so much they demanded I make them 2 nights in a row. It's a win.

Window shopping for houses sigh

2013-02-05T17:25:00.001-08:00

So I'm window shopping for houses. I'm not in a position to buy right now (my kingdom for a garden--grr). I just found one I really really want. I can't have it, but it's awesome. It's even (relatively) in my current neighborhood. There's an orange tree (OK so oranges grow like weeds around here and they're stupidly cheap, but still, mature fruit tree yo). It's big. There's a guest house (my husband wants a guest room in our next place which is nice in theory but I want space and privacy and breaks from guests when they're around)--so little guest house would be awesome. And the kitchen made me swoon (it needs an island or something but it's huge and pretty). It's not even all that expensive ($300k). I need to start saving up a downpayment (not for this house, it'll be gone by the time I'm ready to buy again, but surely something cool will be on the market).

Really, seeing my garden demolished affected me more than I thought it would. Now I want a new garden and house. And I want them here. Ohh, I didn't mention the laundry room. this house had a great laundry room even better than my house in far far away land. OOOH. I hate laundromats. I hate carrying laundry up and down the apt stairs every week. Bain of my existence. I've looked at other apartments in the neighborhood but the price difference for one with washer dryer hookups is such a significant increase it's not worth it. Le sigh.

My Old Garden is GONE

2013-02-04T22:30:00.000-08:00

Ya know what's weird? Seeing your house a little over a year after you moved out of it. I was looking at the property manager's listing for renting the house today (joy of joys we're between renters--ugh). There's a pic of the backyard. My garden is GONE. The grass is gone. Also, the wine racks I left in the basement are still there (but in the kitchen). I shouldn't have looked. It's kinda messing with my head to see my house all weird and empty. The garden was the worst though. I was promised a plot in the community garden when we moved here (it's been full the entire time and no there's no waiting list--ugh). The part of the garden I could see for sure in the pic was the newer "kitchen garden" section. I had the most awesome herbs.

I had Navajo Tea plants (4), Chamomile, Salad Burnett, chives, rosemary, 2 varieties of thyme, a couple varieties of sage, lots of basil (but that's an annual anyway though to a point it will self seed). Last I saw that part of the garden there were a lot of things growing in it. I had some vegetables in there too. Now it's very packed dirt. Everything I did to it, all the turning the soil, planting everything, everything is gone.

I didn't think I cared much. I don't intend on living there again. Seeing the garden hurt a bit. I was partly OK with a couple pots of herbs in the apartment window because I had this big garden I could theoretically go back to (though I wouldn't because I don't want to live in that city).

Ah well. To my garden, farewell old friend. And to anyone looking at my house, just rent the damn place already!!!!

Getting in shape is exhausting.

2013-01-26T19:22:00.003-08:00

I'm exhausted and I blame exercise. I even made an appointment with my personal trainer this week (an appointment I'd been putting of for oh, about 6 months. So yeah, that was an hour and a half worth of inspiring torture. I'm now set up on more of the machines at the gym and know how to use them. I can have a session with D. every week. So in the 7 months I've had a gym membership, I've had one before this week. And it was a short one. I work out an average of 15-30 minutes every week or so at the actual gym not counting swimming with the kiddo (amount of exercise there is highly variable but we swim about 2 times/week). In theory, I'd like to go to the gym and do all that fancy schmancy weight lifting and cardio crap. In practice, I'd like to sleep for 3 days. I'm not buying the exercise equals lots more energy thing just yet. We shall see.

What happens in L.A. when it rains? We hide indoors!

2013-01-25T13:47:00.000-08:00

Seriously, no one goes out when there's weather outside the norm (sunny, mid 70's, no wind). Lord help the locals when it gets to be below 60 during the day. This is frustrating when arranging play dates for my kiddo on slightly chilly days but has the benefit of getting the best parks all to ourselves. This also works for the pool at the gym (no one thinks to go swimming if it's lightly raining out even if it's a heated indoor pool, thus swimming on rainy days is a favorite activity).

Anyway, today I'm hiding indoors from the nice light misty rain. I'm tackling my bedroom. I had grandiose visions of selling the giant piles of clothes that I own but don't wear. This was going to pay for the giant piles of clothes I just bought. Then I went through my drawers and reality smacked me in the face. There's a REASON I don't wear most of that--it's total crap. I kind of think that Goodwill is going to slightly hate me when I donate this stuff. Hello 20 year old PJ's, stretched out T-shirts, button down shirts that wrinkle so badly that I doubt it's even possible to fully iron them and they're missing a button. Wow.

My "to sell" box has 1 shirt, 1 dress and 1 pair of pants. the Goodwill box is big and overflowing.

My genius moment was to designate 1 drawer for swimsuits (we swim a lot, I have a lot of swimsuits and they wear out fast so it's good to have a lot). I quickly determined the drawer was way too big to waste on swimsuits but I noticed an organizer box thing (one of the fabric kind like the one in the ad below). So, I cleared off a shelf of books I never look at and put the suits in the box. Now they're more easily accessible for quick trips to the pool/beach. My new tankini is right on top--squee (like the one below but with a skirt too and with green flowers on it. Yay. And the most accessible shelves in my bedroom are now more useful to me. The poor books were relocated to the closet.

I will never be a professional organizer but maybe eventually I'll be organized. I need a few more rainy days though.

On Spring Holidays (St. Patty's and Easter)

2012-04-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Right before St. Patrick's Day, I always buy 2 corned beef roasts--my husband thinks I'm insane. In a family of 3, we eat corned beef and cabbage enough meals in a row that no one wants to think of any of those foods for a while. This year, rather than forcing 2 rounds of this on my family, I went with Reubans for the second round. And oh, we are all so very, very happy. Yum.

As for Easter, it's coming up this Sunday. I'm not much a fan of Easter. Before Shithead neglected his dogs to the point where they killed my bunnies for funsies (and anything else they could get their big teeth on), I used to give our buns an extra treat on Easter (cuz I'm goofy like that). For the record, Shithead's dogs were sent off to a lab rescue where they will be well cared for and kept away from small children and animals.

At any rate, I'm not that big on Easter, but I'm OK with doing the Easter Bunny thing. The Easter Bunny may have gone a bit overboard on shopping. But it's OK. I looked at our friendly neighborhood Target and our friendly neighborhood dollar store. They had the same stuff but the dollar store stuff was roughly a quarter of the price. So, the Easter Bunny shopped there. This year, the Easter Bunny is bringing Piglet a bunch of puzzles, a bunny ears headband (the only part that came from Target), and a bunch of candy. The Easter Bunny gave me a bag of Jelly Bellies (What?! Don't judge me! It's not robbing my child if I eat the candy before Easter! And there's another bag anyway).

There's also a free Easter Egg hunt at the park closest to us on Saturday! Sounds like a giant nightmarish clusterfuck so, naturally, I think we'll go!

PLEASE PLEASE, don't be a Shithead. Don't adopt animals you won't take care of. Before you buy that live Easter Bunny, remember that the little guys live to be 6-12 years old, so if you're not willing to commit 12 years to them, just buy the plush or chocolate varieties. Oh and if you are considering adopting a bunny, wait a few months because a couple months after Easter, shelters get flooded with "Easter Bunnies" by Shitheads.

K. I'm gonna go eat another sandwich now. G'night.

On Money

2012-03-25T11:04:00.001-07:00

I've finally gotten my cash rolled over from the pension plan from my previous job into a nice happy little IRA. Yay the corrupt evil bastards are no longer in control of any part of my cash. That said, I'm finding managing it myself a bit nerve wracking. Just by nature of it being my "retirement fund" it feels more important and I'm more afraid of losing it. On the other hand, it feels very strange for it to be separate from my usual brokerage account. It sure would be nice to be able to combine the two (ah if only there were no tax implications--seriously, I cashed out my retirement once--don't do that--OMG I was so screwed on taxes that year and I got so little of my principal--ouch).

I need some of my friends to become investors so I have people to chat with about this crap. My closest friends all seem to be of the "no savings at all" variety--sounds terrifying to me.

I'm hemorrhaging cash a bit faster than I'd like. Sigh, time to come up with some additional income sources. I'm trying to put off getting a job as long as possible. Some sort of part time work from home thing would be cool. Piglet benefits from having me around a lot. I still need more resetting time and I'm still working out what I want to do next. I'm not running out of cash but if I'm not exactly breaking even. I probably shouldn't obsess about this when I'm sick.

paint brush cleaner also works on toddler clothes

2012-02-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

From time to time, I paint with acrylics on canvas. I also am the mother of a toddler. You can see how this might not be the best combination. The paints are kept up high and by some miracle I was blessed with a toddler who is NOT a climber--I must have been a saint in a previous life, right? That said, sometimes my toddler and my paints come in contact with each other. Last time it came in contact with a brand new pretty little toddler shirt. Today Piglet got orange paint on her Halloween PJ's (there's no convincing a toddler that a holiday has passed and it's time to move on--she's currently sporting a reindeer shirt). At any rate, when Piglet "ruined" her new shirt last time, I tried to scrub it out and in a moment of desperation, used some brush cleaner (I used Master's--it's the only thing I use on my brushes). It worked. I got every bit of it out. So here's hoping it works again. It was the only thing that worked last time. I've posted a link to it below in case any of you have the same issue. I have the weirdest first world problems.

<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thekeeofsec-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B001TNR7VM" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Goodbye Evil Preschool, Hello Mommy Time!

2012-02-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

The day started with our last trip to the evil preschool. My daughter and I stayed in the car while DH went in to collect her things and disenroll her. I asked my daughter if there was anyone she wanted to say goodbye to and she said no, quite emphatically. Pulling her out of that awful place was absolutely the right choice.

We dropped off DH, came home and started some laundry (exciting, huh?).

The craft project this morning was to make a birthday card for DH. She insisted on making a card for me and one for her too. His is the only one that says "Happy Birthday" on it. Her's has her name and mine is just a giant stack of foam hearts and a pom pom thing that keeps falling off. How the hell do you get those things to stay on? I guess we need to find some better glue.

We also walked up to the dollar store. I generally hate dollar stores with a passion. But when it's jsut up the street... I've also discovered that Awesome Kitchen is one of the best cleaners known to humankind and you can only get it at the damn dollar store. At any rate, I went there to see if they had any of that paper with the two solid lines and the dotted line in the middle (you know this paper, it's the stuff you used as a kid to learn to write letters--that stuff). Piglet wants to learn how to write letters. She keeps asking me to help her write various letters. We lucked out, they had some. And they had construction paper (she goes through it fast and it's $4 at the damn Target), and they had flash cards and workbooks (Piglet's a little nerd. At evil preschool the only thing she liked was the worksheets. So I'm thinking she can do some if she wants to, if not, she can draw all over them, whatever. Oh and she's always loved flash cards. She got some for her first birthday and frequently requests them (so I got her some others to add some variety).

I have no idea what to make for dinner and though I really don't want to, I need to go to the store for milk. Maybe a chicken ramen soup? I can't be lazy and use the little packets of crap that come with the ramen noodles because I'm allergic to something in them. I'm sitting here wondering if chicken and turnips with ramen noodles in broth would be weird or if I should suck it up and go to the store (since we're nearly out of milk anyway). If I get milk, I can have milk in my coffee tomorrow. If not, it'll have to be black and I'll have to be more ambitious than handing out bowls of cereal. (OMG it's so cool that this is my biggest problem, well that and a headcold).

It's a little chilly out today. I thought we might go to one of the parks or something. And baby is taking an epic nap. She woke up after an hour just to tell me that she's sleepy and then crashed out again. that was an hour and a half ago. Yesterday's nap was 45 minutes. The best part of epic long naps: I can eat like 3 little packs of gummy bears and not be a bad influence--mmmwahahaha.

Simple lunch of the day

2012-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

As a working mom, it was always a chore to cook meals. It's a lot easier now that I don't have the stress of a day job, but I still like discovering simple, tasty meals.

Today's lunch, Olive and Monterrey Jack Quesadillas (it's so easy, my toddler helped put them together)
Ingredients:
Corn tortillas (or flour, doesn't matter, but I used corn) you need 2 for each quesadilla
sliced or grated cheese
black olive tapenade (I bought a jar of this at Target)
cooking spray or butter for pan

1. Spread olive spread on one side of the half of the tortillas.
2. place cheese on top
3. cook them in a pan like you would grilled cheese.

It's easy and delicious and not your usual quesadilla. I got the idea from a friend who regularly uses all sorts of spreads on grilled cheese. So easy and a really nice way to break away from boring grilled cheese sandwiches.

I plan to put recipes like this here so I can easily look up ideas when I'm drawing a blank and maybe this will help someone else too.

SAHM DAY 1

2012-02-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone. I've moved to Pasadena, CA. I love it here. I've decided to take a break from working. For a month, I had my 2 year old daughter enrolled in a preschool. I had a much needed break during this time. The preschool, did not work out. It was a horrible experience for all. At any rate, after several preschool tours (I found several I loved but that's beside the point), and a lot of soul searching, I've decided to be a stay at home mom for a while. My little one needs me and I need her. For the $190/week that I was paying for a crappy preschool, we can do an awful lot of awesome things together. So, this blog is changing to focus on my adventures as a new stay at home mom. I suspect my outlook will be a bit more cheery. :)

I've already purchased a bunch of art supplies and have picked up information for local swimming lessons.
-Nancy

Let me out of here pt 2: Alone

2011-10-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

I feel really alone. I asked for someone to look over my resume (on the debil aka. facebook) and I get snarky comments (mostly along the lines of "why don't you take your husband's resume and just put your name on it!"). Yeah, that feels great. Thanks guys.

I just posted a note begging for help with anything at all (work has been insane, truly insane, and I'm packing and sorting alone)--I'm horribly overwhelmed and horribly stressed out. I did get one response (a SAHM is available to come help me but only during the hours when she knows I work). If I could get a few days off this wouldn't be an issue.

I keep wanting to run out the door. I hate that I need this income right now. I hate it.

There's no actual point to this other than a need to vent somewhere. The one group of friends I was venting to has basically said they don't want to hear any of it until I no longer work here--guess I vented too much.

There are multiple events this week/weekend. I just canceled one for this evening. I will probably cancel tomorrow's too. There are 2 parties Saturday (and I think one Sunday). At least one of those was already on the chopping block but I'm beginning to think it's major anti-social time.

I thought my mom could come help me but neither she nor my dad have had great health lately.

I'm in this alone and it's really hard.

I need a job in Los Angeles and I need one now.

Let me out of here!!!!

2011-10-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

I need to get out of here, now. SO, I've not updated in a long time (sorry). DH got a job in CA. So I am leaving. I don't have a job yet but we have an apt. there and I may have found a daycare yesterday (they have an opening in 2 wks).

All signs today say RUN RUN RUN AWAY!

I need to find a job. I need to do this now. I've been putting it off.

I need out of here. Panic. Total panic. My current day job is in an institution that is a horrible sinking ship.

i just canceled swimming tonight so I can apply for jobs.

I just found the coolest sewing blog!!! OMG!

2011-09-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

http://presserfoot.blogspot.com/

I just stumbled on this. I love, love, love the stuff she's made! I plan to use up some of my stash in an attempt to make one of the ruffly scarves (I'll use silk).

In boring job hunting news: DH is now being courted by 4 companies (most in SF). The latest may let him work from here for a while (this would be a mixed blessing--good financially but would mean I'm stuck in this gig for a while). Oh well. I'm just crossing my fingers he gets a job (and one he likes).

In other news, I now have a vagulely professional sewing gig. A buddy of mine is opening a store in her little town in MT and has asked me to design/sew some inventory for her. So far, I've made 3 burp cloths (not a lot, but my time is seriously limited).

I guess that's it for now. TGIF!!!

California?

2011-09-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

DH has had a couple interviews with companies in Northern CA. So, the job search focus has changed for me. I need to find jobs to apply for and then actually apply for them. :)

I'm stressing about cash but at least DH is trying to get a job with a nice steady paycheck.

Crossing my fingers this all works out.

NYC?? Texas?? Somewhere else???

2011-09-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Pardon the current obsessing over various places. I am overly focused on the idea of escaping the Land of Entrapment (if only for a year or so).

DH has an interview in a city where I can't find anything I'm qualified for that will pay a decent wage *cough* NYC *cough*. But I've looked into it and apparently there are places that are affordable to live in the area--so there's that (some detached houses with tiny little yards--SQUEE). And if he made enough, I could loaf about for a while and/or get some little froof part time gig (which would be amazingly awesome and would completely fix this whole burn out problem I have). Also, New York is a much cooler city (that goes without saying, but still). The downside--it's colder there. If I whine about it being too cold in the Southwest, and I do, then I'm pretty sure the first couple of winters would kick my ass.

The job posting for the job I applied for has closed. So they're reviewing applications. I guess we'll see if I get a bite.

Another possibility is the Austin area of Texas (not quite as cool as NYC but super cheap). IDK. This uncertainty is annoying at best. Bah.

I want a new job. And, I want to move.

Are people in my job in NYC homeless or what?

2011-08-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

That, my friends, is the question of the day. DH applied for a job in NYC and if he gets it, he'll take it. Naturally, I looked into jobs in my current field. The cost of living is 59% higher than here. The pay for the equivalent of my job is about 10-20% lower in NYC. How does that work exactly?

Clearly you couldn't really rent an apartment on that pay (I'd starve on that pay here). You couln't buy a place on that pay.

So you'd be expected to show up to work in professional attire (which you'd store under a bridge or something). Would you eat out of trash cans? Seriously, how the fuck would you live on that pay somewhere that expensive.

If DH got a high paying job and my pay could just be for savings etc., it wouldn't be too bad I guess. I want a job where I could support us if/when needed. This shouldn't be too much to ask.

On becomming a real grownup at the ripe old age of 30something

2011-08-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ya know what I'd kill for right now? A massage, a facial and a margarita! Being a real grown up means not spending money on any or all of the above when I cannot afford it. Alas, no massage, facial or margarita for me.

I decided to make myself learn to plan meals, and eat at home the majority of the time (not just fast food but actual food prepared in my home--gasp), even for lunch. This is motivated by money. I can't afford to be lazy and only cook when I really want to.

The plan:
Step 1: Tell DH things have to change (check). He's not making any cash so he gets to deal with my new system--tragically the new system involves more work for me. He took it well and seems to be on board.

Step 2: Develop a vague plan of what we might eat this week (the plan included PB&J, grilled cheese, and um chicken and maybe some veggies)--not much of a shopping list but I've never excelled at planning meals more than 3 hours in advance.

Step 3: Shopping (Piglet and I enjoyed this step). For $57, we left the store with what might actually be enough food for the week (or pretty close). Considering that I've been spending over $10 on lunch alone during the week, this is pretty awesome and has motivated me to cook.

Step 4: Prep some meals in advance to keep this project from failing miserably. I managed to chop and freeze 2 onions and prepare a meal to cook later (yes 1--to my credit I have a minor sinus infection and needed a nap).

Step 5: Profit!

So it's Tuesday. I've managed to eat at home for lunch both work days (and DH is remarkably on board). I've made 2 dinners in a row (this never happens during the week). My only expense in the past 2 days was my daycare check.

If I keep this up, I may be able to at least afford the margarita in a few weeks. :)

Husker Du!

2011-08-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Piglet's current favorite game is Husker Du! A co-worker of mine gave me her old copy (it was her daughter's favorite board game). It's a memory game where you place pawns over pictures and then pick out matches. It's quite simple and quite easy to scale the difficulty level. You can place the pawns and then turn the wheel to change the location of the images to make the game more challenging. We frequently will pick out 5 or 6 pairs and just play with those since Piglet is new to board games. She has a lot of fun playing and it's a nice change from Blue's Clues (baby is currently cracked out on Blue's Clues). My co-worker's daughter is absolutely thrilled that a little girl has and loves it. Hooray for hand-me-downs!

2011-08-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

I had natto udon for breakfast. Are you jealous? It was so awesome (leftover from last night's dinner). Also, I scored free ice cream today. And I slept fairly well last night for the first time this week.Hooray!

Ojos in my butt!

2011-08-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Piglet is 2. Two year olds are talky little creatures, at least mine is. Piglet has a large vocabulary (in English). Piglet is learning a bit of Spanish at daycare. This is great and encourages me to brush up on my Spanish (I haven't but the thought occurs to me).

Unfortunately, this has spawned the "ojos in my butt" joke. It was probably funny in a startling/immature way the first time. It's really not funny any more. I thought "butt jokes" were hilarious and awesome right around the age of 5 or 6. I'm really not ready for butt jokes. There are downsides to teaching kiddos to speak.

That said, almost certainly when I pick up Piglet, she will say, "there are ojos in my butt!" and laugh hysterically, rinse repeat.

So far, this joke has mostly been told in the car. I understand, car rides are boring.

I need to teach baby that something else is equally hilarious that's slightly less embarrassing to me should she yell it out in public. But really, how does a mom-approved joke compete with "there are ojos in my butt!"

On music

2011-08-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'm fairly obsessed with music. So here's my album of the week. It's perfect "stressed out at work" music. Not too sleepy,not too bouncy.

I should probably have something intelligent to say about this but I'm too tired and tonight will be night 4 of virtually no sleep. Lovely, just lovely.

Tired, frustrated, late

2011-08-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Poor Piglet, my 2 year old, is sick. Illness in a 2 year old is generally expressed in waves of epic tantrums. Piglet woke up crying and making whiny little raspy sounds that might have been words. I could have racked up major Mommmy Karma last night if not for the 3 previous nights of Piglet-related lack of sleep--instead I was frustrated and grouchy. I whined back begging Piglet to PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SLEEP!!!

Getting dressed was a major battle, getting into the car seat took 2 adults, there was screaming and the like all the way this morning. Poor little piggy.

I was late to work, naturally, and the pile on my desk is insane.

There is not enough coffee in the world. Ugh.

evening goals

2011-08-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

My goals for the evening are simple and few (though likely to be thwarted because I think my toddler is coming down with a cold--poor bear).
1. Play my guitar
2. Clean my floors
3. Cook dinner

1 will probably happen after the munchkin is asleep if at all. At 2, munchkin likes to help--this is cute for about 5 seconds and then quickly becomes annoying beyond words. I need to get munchkin a small cheap guitar of some sort--this might solve the problem at least somewhat and I could pretend I'm being wonderfully educational and forming my own little Mozart (minus the negative aspects of his character, of course).

2 will happen. I recently picked up a Bissell Quicksteamer thing. Best $80 I've ever spent OMG. I can clean my floors in less than 1/4 the time better than ever before (and it uses so much less water than mopping the hard floors. My lovely cats (who are fortunate to be cute and cuddly) have a favorite spot in the living room. Since I've been using my new floor cleaning thingy with the pet formula of cleaning solution, they've mostly stopped using the spot and I'm coming home less frequently to a cat scented house. Oh how I love this thing. I saw a deluxe model for pet hair and the like and very nearly bought it (except I was 1000 miles from home and the one I have is only about 2 months old).

3. I'm not sure on this goal. I have the makings for a great (and simple) sausage pasta (pasta, basil and tomato from the garden, artichoke hearts, cheese, olive oil), but I'm also pretty lazy when it comes to food during the week. We shall see.

addition: So, I managed dinner. It was awesome. I'm exhausted. It's been a long day.

Introduction

2011-08-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! I suppose I should introduce myself, it's only fair after all. I'm a 30 something mother of 1. I work full time in a vaguely satisfying job. I am stupidly obsessed with my stock portfolio, gardening, food, music and recently cosmetics (and of course, all things child-related).

I've recently begun to hatch an escape plan (from my current job) and will chronicle that adventure here as well as my various obsessions (because my friends are tired of hearing about them). :)
Thanks for stopping by, more content soon.
XOXO
-Kanga.