Stand Up Cake Dragon Part 2

Meet Lucy, named after her friend

Wow. Definitely not an easy cake but actually not as difficult as anticipated. The "Wow" relates to the extensive amount of time I had to dedicate to this project. Well worth it in the end, and especially worth Bugs' wide eyes of pleasure as she inspected the final result.

My first project of the day was to melt some candies and form them into the scales shape. I've never even remotely worked with meltable candy so this was an experience but not bad, all in all.

frozen dragon with ears cut off and emerging tail

Then I had about 4 tons of icing to color - that was a project. My hands are stained a nice shade of pink with black tips. Goth. All I need are some black lace gloves and dreds. O, I forgot the cape.

The tail was the hardest part. I used cupcakes and large marshmallows to get the shape but had to fill in a lot with icing to make it a smoothish shape. Somebody that asks for a piece of the tail is going to be very surprised by the combination of flavors. Barf.

Some icing completed, the tail in its final state before icing

It took me about 3 hours to complete the decorating. Tink was up again...again, up to no good. Gotta love her.

Like mother, like daughter (where'd she get that?)

Bugs and her friend Lucy were in and out of the kitchen periodically checking on our progress. It was magical.What was not magical was the state of my kitchen at the end. I wished for a magic wand - and got two...my arms. Beggers can't be choosers.Oh, and thinking back about my post from the other day about birthday traditions, I guess this is ours. I do cakes. I love doing them. I love letting my kids pick out whatever they want (Tink has yet to do this of course.)

Stand Up Cake Dragon Part 1

Today was allocated to getting the cake baked. A formidable task if you ask me since the cake is thick especially around the belly and according to the directions, you need a ton of batter.

The directions start off by stating you'd be better off to use a pound cake batter and then combine it with a cake mix batter. So you need to make two mixes - one from scratch. No biggie except that I used every last egg in my house, all my flour (how did that happen?) and I had batter coming out of my ears! Not to mention all of this was going on with Tinkerpot awake and enjoying every bit of the distraction I was throwing at her. Is that batter up her nose? Ew!The cake tin was a double tin (front & back) which you grease and flour heavily, clip together and pour the batter into his nether regions. I think I filled it a little too much but it was still okay. Bake for about an hour and at this point, there's really no way to check if it's done - you can't stick a toothpick in that far and besides, the directions were specific about not overcooking.And now it's done. It's cooling on the counter and I can breathe a sign of relief because the front and the back came off without sticking and now it can just cool down and freeze to await the frosting on Wednesday. Phew! I'm glad I didn't have to do it over for some reason.

Birthday Traditions

Since Bugs turns 6 this week, of course my thoughts are turned toward birthdays and the fun of them. I think I enjoy them as much as she does because I'm the one that makes the magic happen! Being a mom, in this respect, is delightful.

And since I now have two kidlings that I get to make magical, I thought it might be fun to make some actual birthday traditions that they can look forward to. Because kids just love traditions, don't they? It's one of the things they anticipate most about Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc.

I read that one family, on each birthday gives one new privilege and one new responsibility. I really loved this idea because it's a perfect time to let them know how much you think they've grown, and then a natural time to add chores that would otherwise and inevitably be given at another time. I might make a birthday box and put them on slips of paper or something that they could open like a present.

What are birthday traditions at your house? I'll bet there are some cute things out there!

Sewing Faster

It's about time for me to venture into the realm of sewing for myself. I have enough confidence now that I'm sure I could pull off a few really cute things and I'm eying a skirt at DownEast Outfitters that looks incredibly easy and also incredibly cute. I checked it out today to see how it was made and found that I've made several for Bugs just recently that make use of many of the same techniques. Now all I need is the perfect fabric.Here are a few things I threw together this weekend in a couple of spare hours. The skirt is one I've been looking at in different patterns and finally decided I was ready. Not that it was hard, not be any stretch. It just took a little time to get all the squares cut out. I'm getting cheap lately with fabric and everything here was pulled from my growing stack of remnants. There are some great fabrics out there but I'm sticking to lower cost ones even if they're not quite as cute. I think it turned out great and Bugs looks adorable as ever in it.I bought this yellow pillowcase at the thrift store for a quarter. I added some ribbon for the arm holes and a white broadcloth ruffle at the bottom. I think I'll add some fat ric rak to it or maybe even a cloth flower and it's all done. It was by far the least expensive project I've done so far. Best thing is, someone had that pillowcase a looooong time. It's 100% cotton and so very very very soft after its' use. I love how it feels.

Bug's Birthday

sooooo, on a less personal note that is less about my reproduction and more about my children (and aren't you so glad to not be talking about condoms anymore), here is the cake that Bugs has requested for her birthday this year.

I definitely have a funny little girl turning 6 this year. Not only did she NOT want the girl room at Kangaroo Zoo this year, she opted for this funny little dragon over butterflys, princesses, kitty's and all the other girl related stuff. I don't care, I think it's cute and rather quirky. Maybe we'll make Mr. Dragon pink and purple or something.

This is my first stand-up cake and I'm really excited to try it. Other than making sure the actual cake turns out okay, it will be easy to decorate. And the tail is made out of big marshmallows. Fun! I'm excited for next week to make this!

More On The Mirena IUD

It can't have been more than about 6 weeks ago that I was complaining about my all-over-body rash. I managed to mostly conquer it although it raises its head every now and then and I have to beat it down with allergy meds. If that were my only problem, I'd gladly live with it.

But increasingly over the past few weeks I have been feeling extremely agitated. And not only that but people are making comments. Like The Marshmallow and my sister specifically. It's not like I haven't noticed. My post from the other day about my job is likely not really due to the stress I'm feeling at work - anyway not ALL of it.

I am angry all of the time. I feel it just below the surface about ready to burst out. Talk about a short fuse, now I know what that really means. I have absolutely no tolerance and even the slightest thing can make me snap and when I snap, watch out. I'm not liking it. I just don't know who I am! I feel so out of control, so far from The Lord, and really just barely getting by. I was even thinking of talking to my doctor about anxiety medication. I'm really just not a pleasant person to be around (or to be!)

So for no reason in particular I started looking at the Mirena bulletin boards again checking side affects and such. Turns out that nearly all of the women complaining of side affects listed anxiety, irritation, intolerance, anger ..... at least one of them or a combination of them but there they were! I'm not losing my mind! Perhaps I am an intolerance person by nature but this IUD is doing nothing for me if side affects are causing my birth control to be abstinence because I'm freaking my husband out!

I've decided to take it out. I really feel like I've given it a good shot. It's not for me. I hope that I can go back to who I was before and that the hormones can cleanse through me quickly. I hope the vasectomy is still on the table...

Strawberries & More Strawberries

Ever since I can remember, I have wanted a dedicated strawberry bed. Every house I've lived at, I've searched for the perfect place to put one knowing that they go crazy and invade every square inch of wherever you put them. They need to have borders and you have to be diligent about keeping their runners out of places you don't want them.

Until now, I've never had a place even at this house with all it's corner niches and my ample yard space. But The Marshmallow has been working on our side yard for a few weeks and he made me a fairly decent sized bed for the strawberries and I am so excited.

A good friend was thinning out her strawberry bed and told me I could come take some of hers and so today I showed up with trowel and gloves and went to work. I didn't think I was taking as many as I did but when I got home to plant them, I realized that it won't take long for these to overtake my bed but that's okay. I'd rather it be sooner than later that I have to start thinning. Then I'll have some to give away too!

My kindergartener does this little jump, arm swing, skip hop whenever she comes down steps. I don't want to ever forget that cute little dance.

When Work Becomes Work

I woke up this morning knowing it would rain the entire day. I dressed for it because I knew I'd be in and out of my car all day as I made my rounds. To say the least, I wasn't excited. I have to work and only one person's gonna do it. Me.

I had eleven patients lined up to see today. Count them...eleven! That's a HUGE amount of patients for one day and even under the best of circumstances, I would have been hard-pressed to see them all. I managed to fit 8 into my day and I dragged one tired, and soggy girl through the door at around 4:45 pm. Why am I doing this to myself? Why am I doing this to my girls?

We neeeeed the money. It's that simple but it is more complicated than that. I really only need to see 5 patients per day in order to make my modest budget. Why then am I trying to shove 11 into my day? At the end of today I'm really wondering.

Every SINGLE morning, Bugs asks me if I have to work and her sign of disappointment on days when I just am not going to be there when she gets home literally tears my heart out. And then my babysitter posts pictures of my kids on Facebook while she's tending, and makes status posts about what they're up to and I want to cry in frustration that it's not ME that's seeing them do this or that. And now summer's coming and I see it disappearing into a huge vat of home exercise programs, arthritis counseling, pain management and blah blah blah...stuff that is important but NOTHING compared to how my kids are going to spend their summer with someone else. It is killing me!

You see, in my profession it's totally feast or famine. It wasn't long ago that I left my house only to see 3 or maybe 4 patients per day stressing the fact that I'm not meeting the minimum. And only a few short weeks later I'm pushing the envelope with what one sane person can accomplish in a single day. I could get help or tell my agencies that I can't take on this or that particular patient right now. I don't because they WILL find someone who can take them. They won't cancel my contract but there will be another somebody there hoping for patients and the agencies will be obligated to split my caseload with the new person which means in the end, I'll end up with less even during the famine times. I just can't have that! I need exclusive access to my agencies so that I get first rights of refusal. Without that, I might as well go get a regular job.

But days like today (which have become more than norm) are awful. I remember when I first negotiated with my awesome babysitter to come when I very first went back to work after Tink was born. My schedule had me leaving my house at 8:45 am and back at 11:30 when Bugs got home from school. It was only a few months and I pushed it back to noon, then one, then two, three and now it's regularly 4:00 when I come through the door - TWICE A WEEK. That's two full days, two times a week! How can I even consider myself a stay at home mom with that schedule? What's weird is that when Bugs was Tinkerpot's age, I worked that schedule all the time and thought nothing of it at all.

Now, it's all different. I've had it. I don't want to do it. I don't NEED to do it. I enjoy it but not as much as being home. I've got to change it. I have no idea what to do but I'm even thinking of employing an OT assistant to take on my caseload when I have too much. I don't know the ramifications of having an employee and it makes my head ache but I'd still be making money if I did that, AND I'd still have access to all patients coming down the pike which is by far the most important aspect at this point. I just don't want competition at all. I feel my job's too lucrative to allow another therapist even their toe in the door. I hate this. There has to be a solution.

At Least There's That

I'm fortunate in that if I make a shirt for Bugs and the armholes continue to be too small (a problem I find that I keep having...gotta figure that one out), it will fit Tinkerpot as a dress. Nothing wasted. Onward and upward.

Baby Carrier - My Version

I have a girlfriend who is having a baby boy in just a few weeks and I've wanted to do something for her since she is so good to me.

I love the baby carrier covers that everyone has now. I never had one but that's because I never would cough up the cash and didn't have this fabulous sewing machine (haha, nor the capability to make one).

But with a renewed sense of confidence in my sewing skills, I decided to make one and they're easy. I modified the instructions to suit what I wanted and it turned out pretty well - good enough to gift.

If anyone would like the instructions, I'd be happy to put up a tutorial since it was difficult for me to find a tutorial and then I had to change it quite a bit (velcro vs. buttons, larger straps, longer length, etc.).

I wish I could have found cuter fabric but I was on a strict schedule and had to go with what was there but it's cute anyway.

Off to the zoo we go with a herd of kindergarteners! Fun fun fun!

Another Skirt

My sewing skills are definitely improving with every sewing project I do. Less use of my seam ripper and more educated guesses as to how things are going together.

Actually I made this skirt yesterday but I was foiled because I didn't notice a pretty critical piece of information at the bottom of the instructions. It made a fairly significant difference in how it turned out vs. how it was supposed to turn out but I don't mind because the end result is pretty cute anyway and Bugs looks adorable as ever in it. I would like to make her a top to go with it and try this pattern again the way it's supposed to be because that skirt is even cuter.

My next project has to be another cat tank for Bugs since the original one fits Tink instead. She's been asking about it every day and it literally will take me 2 hours to whip it up.

Then, I plan to make the shirt to match this skirt, another to match the skirt I made last weekend, and then start learning to make leggings because they look incredibly easy and are incredibly cute with these skirts.

Onward and upward!

hCG Giveaway!

The random winner of the hCG giveaway was Carolee! Please send me an email at the_nielsens2000 at earthlink dot net to let me know where you'd like me to ship it!

Congratulations Carolee!

I've died

and gone to heaven.

It has an automatic needle threader! How cool is that?

Meet My New BFF

Betty Lou

(now that's what I'm talking about)

Happy Mothers Day to me!

Ruffle Shirt

It was so nice to have the day to sew! It took me about 1/ 2 the day, with a whole bunch of interruptions, to make the cutest top you've ever seen!

Thanks to Lesley who was kind enough to let me borrow this cute pattern, I managed to put together a great little shirt for Bugs. Thanks to ME and my meticulous obsession to making sure everything was perfect (not my typical sewing MO), it was a perfect fit.

That's it. I'm officially addicted.

It's only 10am and I get to spend the rest of the day sewing!

Forays Into Sewing & a Few Irisis

My weekend was a blur of fabric, thread and the clunk clunk of my sewing machine - intermixed with a small break out in the yard where I transplanted some old decrepit irises from a long forgotten corner in my backyard to my new winding flower beds that go up the side of my house. They'll be beautiful in two years!

As I've mentioned a few times here and there on this blog, I do not sew. I mean, I would LIKE to sew but so far, everything I've ever made has been a disastrous mess and I'm never sure if it will even make it through one washing cycle let alone the rigors of being worn by a child!

Enter blog sewing tutorials. Have you ever seen these? Until just a few days ago, I didn't know they existed! I thought that if you really wanted to sew, you absolutely had no choice but learn the complicated "pattern-reading" language. And to me, it's a complete foreign language. There always seems like there's something new to learn and the words they use to describe an assortment of procedures is so stupid. Like, can't they use normal words like "sew on ric-rac then flip it over and iron it!" What would be so hard about that! These tutorials DID use real language and it went so much better! Turns out, I CAN sew. What I can't do is read a pattern.

So I'm proud to show you a few of the things that I made. They were all originally intended for Bugs because she's the only one I absolutely have to shop for anymore. And she needed summer clothes so I thought I'd make a few of these cute outfits I'm seeing around on Etsy and stuff.

First off is the tank top that should have gone with the skirt - I don't love it but it'll be okay with jeans. I don't like it with the skirt and didn't even bother photo'ing them together. Perhaps you can envision how they just don't work together.
Next is the tank that was an afterthought. Bugs wanted this cat fabric and I just didn't know what I'd do with it. So I made this "tank" that turned out to be a size too small for her but fits Tink as a dress and is absolutely adorable I think. I'll make another a size or two bigger for Bugs and it was really easy to make so no biggie.
Last is my absolute fav. It took me about 1/2 the day to make it and I love how it came together. It was less than $10 to make and fits perfectly. I wish I had one for myself even if I'm a big old for it.

What is O.K. an abbreviation for anyway?

Weird Socks

I found a pair of socks in my laundry that fit me but I have no idea where they came from. Funny thing is they're the best socks I've ever worn and I wish I knew where to get more! Socks are funny things - how did these get here? Weird.

Surviving and Thriving In A Disaster

I'm reading a book right now that is definitely worth the time. It's fiction so it's fun to read but extremely enlightening to those of us concerned with emergency preparedness. It's called "Last Light" and it's about a community that is undergoing a world-wide power failure that is never anticipated to be corrected. This book goes into fantastic detail about what a particular family and neighborhood goes through day to day, and I was fascinated by some of the problems they have to face and the solutions that the author offers. I have never looked at a natural disaster this way and I am newly motivated to re-evaluate my emergency preparedness and add a few things to my list.

Today, I hit WalMart and ended up with an entire cart full of supplies. I've been putting this off for several years and I always cringe when I think about all the things I still needed. I felt nothing but relief when I brought it all home and put the items away, checking them off my list as I went. I only have about 3 or 4 things left that I need to buy for my emergency supplies and evacuation kit. Those things include sleeping bags for my kids, flares (I can't decide if I need road flares or aerial flares), kerosene, first aid supplies and I think that's about it. What an amazing feeling to know that we are set! Now I can focus on finishing up my year's food supply although I've got a good dent in that too.

But back to the book and the things I wanted to share with you. I know it's difficult to anticipate a disaster because each type of disaster brings its own share of challenges. But let's talk about an earthquake, the most likely type to occur in our area. It will probably cut out our electricity, most forms of transportation because of torn up roads and debris everywhere, heat/cooling and gas will probably be out and so will phones. Many of us might have damage to our homes. In many respects this disaster mirrors what these people in the book went through except they didn't have to deal with cleaning up and injuries.

So...have you thought about the easiest way to get around your community if you don't have a car? If you have a bicycle, there you go. But make sure you have a bike pump and maybe an extra tube or two because if you get a flat, there goes your transportation. Period. You'll also want to have a really good lock on it because you'll probably want to leave it outside if you go somewhere and bikes will be gold.

Despite all of the water you probably have stored in your basement, you will run out eventually. Where are you going to get it? I doubt it will be pumped to our faucets so we'll have to go get it. How are you going to carry it? Wouldn't it be easier to haul it in something with wheels? People in this book were carrying it in big, clean empty trashcans or installing wheels on storage containers. You could use a wagon. Think about it. You won't want to carry as much water as your family will need for a couple of days, especially if you need to do any clothes washing, hair washing, toilet flushing, etc. Also, think about purchasing one of those single person water purification systems that automatically purifies the water as you drink it. They're expensive but then you don't have to buy the tablets or boil all of your drinking water. Good idea. I personally also bought a collapsible water container (it was about $6) that has a handle, a funnel to get the water into it and I can throw it into my kids' wagon for easy transport.

Do you own a gun? You might need it. If word gets out about your fantastic food storage or all the emergency supplies you have, you'll be a target for robberies or burglaries. Don't think for a second they won't kill you for it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Protect your family and your hard-earned supplies. If you're like me, you might own a weapon but never thought about the ammunition you might need. Duh. I bought two cases of shells today and feel a lot better now. Don't worry - everything is child safe.

Another thing. I have lots of oil lamps around my house. I've talked about them before; I collect them because they're pretty. So I was feeling pretty good about having them knowing that we'd have light! Hello! I don't own a drop of kerosene! All those lamps will be useless to me if I don't have fuel. Speaking of fuel - you might want to store some of that if you have 4-wheelers or plan to use anything that requires fuel (like your car). Make sure you check for safe storage methods for fuel though.

The last thing I have to say about this is food. A lot of us store food and it's no secret. But if something were to go really wrong and we needed to hunt, or we happen onto a larger cut of meat, it might be nice to know that we don't have to eat it all within 1-2 days before it goes bad. Especially if you have to suddenly use all of that meat in your large freezer. I know I have a lot of meat in there and would panic if my freezer all of the sudden lost power. People have been preserving meat for zillions of years and we can still do it today with a little bit of information. It's probably a stretch that we need to know this but wouldn't you hate yourself if someday you need to know it and you have no idea how to do it? Here's the instructions so just print out this post and stick it in your food storage and then you'll always have it.

Ingredients

• 200 lbs beef (freshly killed, rounds only)
• 1 pint salt
• 1 teaspoon saltpeter
• 1/4 lb brown sugar

Directions

1. Mix the last three ingredients well, rubbing out all lumps.
2. Divid mixture into three equal portions.
3. Place meat in a large bowl and rub thoroughly with one portion of the mixture
4. Let stand one day.
5. Follow same procedure on second and third days.
6. Turn meat several times a day.
7. Allow meat to remain in bowl for 7 more days, then hang up until meat stops dripping
8. When dripping has stopped, hang in a cool place about 6 weeks to dry thoroughly.
9. Wrap meat in clean muslin bags and keep in a cool place.
10. If in 6 months, meat becomes too hard, soak in cold water for 24 hours and wipe dry.
11. Wrap again in muslin and hang in a cool place.

You may also want to know how to do bottle/can preservation without a stove - like how to do it over a fire. Again, you never know what you'll need. This stuff is just information and it's free right now so it's stupid not to get it and sock it away for the "what if's" in the future. The more you know, the better off you'll be. Who knows: information may be as valuable as money is today.

I hope this gives you all some new things to think about and different ways of approaching your emergency preparedness. Try to think about the things you do now and how you would accomplish them later. And for all the supplies you have, make sure you have everything you'd need to make them work for you.

Kids Are Funny

I'm sitting here on my bed listening to Bugs who is in her room playing with her GameBoy. I just heard her say, "Don't mess with ME, guy!"

I let my hair air dry this morning and now whenever I see myself in a mirror I hate how I look! What would I do without electricity?

Teaching Kids a Good Work Ethic

If anyone was watching me during church today, I'm sure they thought I was sleeping. Well, I wasn't. I was TRYING but it didn't come. Bugs kept poking me in the side to help her decipher her coloring book (huh?) and the speaker during that particular segment was actually really engaging and so...I couldn't sleep. Shoot!

Ahh. Just kidding you guys. I admit I have fallen asleep in Sacrament before but today I wasn't actually trying to do so. My lids were very heavy though but the speaker WAS engaging and the message did get through. What I heard was about teaching children a good work ethic. I thought that was an excellent message and actually a very important idea!

So I got looking around today and found a website that had some really good ideas for how to do it and thought I'd share it. I've enlisted a few of these ideas before today of course but am going to do a few more of them on a more regular basis (like teach them to help out with everyday chores that would be easier to do myself). I remember working a lot as a kid and am grateful now that I was required to.

God Grant Me Serenity

I had a very excellent week. With a new time management system, a bunch of motivation and some really good kids, I was able to get quite a lot done and I'm feeling on top of the world.

Tonight I took Tinker out in the wagon and it was light sweater weather, my favorite, and as I walked I just felt complete serenity. It's fleeting, serenity. I've discovered that it's not a feeling one can have on an ongoing basis and that when you finally feel it surround you, take a breath and enjoy it while it's there. Because it's bliss.

All was right in my world in those few moments and I can only hope that heaven feels like that utter contentment I felt right then as I thought about my life.

I managed to "spring clean" my backyard flower beds today with the baby out there with me (it's a miracle), I paid bills without the stress of wondering how it was all going to come through, I am completely caught up on laundry, dinner was a success tonight, I'm caught up at work, my desk is clean, my children are bathed, fed and happy...and The Marshmallow is home building me a stringing system for my peas mostly because he loves me.

After last week, I did deserve that moment of serenity. Thank You Lord.

Don't Forget To Kill Yourself When You're 65

I received some sage advice from a patient today when asked to give her insight to someone my age about how to avoid being frail and sick when they get to be, how should I say, advanced in years. This question, of course, required every ounce of my tact and diplomacy as to not offend her. She took it well and told me, and I quote...

"Die young."

It's noon and my blood pressure is a-risin'.

Dead Rats Are Troublemakers

Okay, Remy's not dead but he's a rat so he fits. Just go with it.

Remember I live on a busy street? Sometimes it sucks (like when I get garbage thrown on my lawn) and sometimes it doesn't (when I get to see all my friends walking or driving down the street and they wave - that happens a lot).

Today, it brought surprising events to my world, some good and some bad. Let's start with The Rat.

Mr. Dead Rat has been clinging to the sidewalk a few houses down tucked up against a brick wall for going on 3 weeks now. I discovered him while taking a walk. I thought to call someone and then thought about something else *poof* - it was gone. Until a week later I saw The Rat again and Bugs and I discussed it at length. Again *poof* - gone the instant I hit my front door because well, I'm a mom and have a zillion things to attend to (make that screams to attend to).

I've seen The Rat several times since then and hate it. It makes me feel like I live somewhere very urban and dirty whereas I actually live in a rather clean, small suburb. But today as I drove home I noticed some people gathered around The Rat and it took me a minute to realize it was my friend Kelly and her son. So I pulled over and commenced a yelling conversation over 2 lanes of traffic with her. Ever tried it?

Behind us about 30 yards was a classroom full of kids out on what looked like a fieldtrip to the grocery store - this I know because Bugs has one tomorrow. Boy, gone are the days when going to the grocery store constitutes a field trip. I'm thinking to myself what a marvel The Rat will be when they get up to it when all of the sudden Kelly and I hear this huge squeal of tires and then a crash. Right in front of us, a little car smashed into the back of another little car turning left.

Turns out the smasher was too busy watching Kelly watching The Rat, me - who was pulled over to check out Kelly watching The Rat, and the kids who were about to watch The Rat. She never had a chance. A person not distracted by this zoo of activity would have to be dead.

Later when the cop came to investigate the smasharoo, Kelly and I are still engaged in conversation, this time on my sidewalk, when a couple of bicyclists come riding by and they're shouting at each other to be heard over the traffic. And they're shouting the "F" word to each other. So here are Kelly and my kids standing there at our feet and I'm like, "Hey!" gesturing wildly to our kids like - "have a little respect you "f'ing idiots!" Haha, just kidding. But the guy turns around and starts shouting back at us "F, F, F, F" but the whole word just to be a total doughhead! And having absolutely no respect for the fact that children are sitting there listing to him. Bugs was like, "what did he say?" and I told her he was talking about pucks and hockey. She had a skeptical and distrusting look on her face but what could she do?

So, if you see a dead rat on your street, please call the City Sanitation Department immediately to have it removed. If you don't, you will likely get in a crash and have to explain to your kids why bicyclists would rather discuss hockey while they're riding.

It's all just another day in the neighborhood.

I'm Going Down Fighting

The Marshmallow shaved off his facial hair today, and I seriously detest when he does this. I've known him for too long with it and he just looks like a different person to me! I humor him when he shaves it all off but look forward to when it will all grow back. And it will. It always does.

But I was making a comment about my gray hairs this evening and he mentioned that when he shaved this morning he noticed that many of the hairs in the sink were white! He's blonde, so of course he'll go white which irritates me to no end. Here's a man who has no care in the world about what color his hair will be in ten years and he gets to go gloriously white. It's about as unfair as men losing weight so much faster than women. Just another proverbial "bird finger" to the fairness of it all.

Me, on the other hand, will go that ghastly shade of gray. I'm already seeing it - sort of silverly and spikey with no desire to be tamed. If I pulled them all out at this point, like I've been doing for 5 years , 6 years, I wouldn't have enough hair to style anymore. But I'm not letting it take me down before I'm ready to go. My cute little 80-something grandma still bleaches her hair out blonde monthly. And I have no qualms whatsoever in following in her tiny little footsteps. I will be vain until the day I die. Gray just doesn't go with anything in my closet.

The Strangest Thing I've Seen Today Is GoGirl

Product Features

• Allows women the convenience of going to the bathroom standing up
• Reusable can be washed with soap and water
• Includes a reusable storage tube with a baggie and tissue
• Made from medical grade silicone that conforms to your body
• Pink tube with lavender GoGirl

Browsing around Amazon today looking for medical supplies for my work, I came across this actual item for sale and it's specifications. I'm intrigued...are people really going to buy this? And would it really work? I'm imagining the logistics of an actual visit to the ladies room out on a shopping trip. Do you take it to the sink and wash it up right in front of others? Do you really wash it in the sink? Or do you tuck it in its baggie and take it home with you? What if you need to use it again before you've gotten home to wash it?

I read the reviews, which there were 6, and they all gave 5 stars. Turns out, most of them are using it as a camping aid. Whodathunkit? Evidently some woman who hates it that men have it so easy in the woods!

If you happen to decide to use it in a public restroom, then it all comes down to...are you a sitter, or a squatter? You don't of course need to tell me, I'm just saying...

Some Days Are Like This

This was NOT an awesome day. I felt so frazzled, more frazzled than I have in months. I literally locked myself away 2x today from my kids. That's not a good sign.

Tink was so fussy and has been all week long but today was the grand finale. I could not set her down for even a second. I tried my throw back tactic of putting her in her crib each time she screamed until she calmed and then I'd bring her back to society and I did that repeatedly until I felt like a torturer instead of a nurturer and gave up on it. We went outside to the sandbox where she had a much better time. But this was after several hours of dealing with the crying. The Marshmallow says he thinks she's getting a cold on top of whatever else has been ailing her all week long (teeth? constipation? who the freak knows anyway).

And so my typical o-so-patient response is to completely freak out on Bugs who is an angel comparatively these days and treat her like she's the one causing my angst. She's so ultra-sensitive that she has a melt down if you look at her the wrong way. And so I ended up in my bedroom, door closed, in tears myself, on my knees asking the Lord to please just help me know what to do and to please help me be a more patient and kind mother today. It helped; it always does even if just for the moment I had peace. That is until Bugs was pounding on the door (crying) wanting to know why I had shut my door and what I was doing (she gets scared when she's alone). It took ALL MY WILLPOWER not to screech at her to leave me the heck alone for just a few minutes. But to my credit, I opened the door slowly and kindly brought her in and explained that mommy is a nervous wreck and is tearing out her hair with Tink's crying and that mommy is sorry to take it out on Bugs.

I hate that I have to work but I'm actually glad that I get to go to work tomorrow morning and leave The Marshmallow with my world.

Oh, and to top off my awesome day, The Marshmallow brought home a little mini excavator to rip out some bushes in the backyard (yay!) and as he was maneuvering through the carport and into the backyard with it, he tore a huge chunk out of my totally awesome, nearly antique dehydrator that my mother so generously let me borrow last year (ya, borrow) - and now what I am going to tell her? They don't make these things anymore and it's like a family heirloom of sorts. I was absolutely SICK but it was a total freak accident and The Marshmallow is a total wreck over it. What could I say? Well, I did say a few choice phrases but took them back later when I told him I wasn't mad at him, just at what had happened.

Ahhhh. And he wonders why I like escapism in my leisure time.

Kirkland Organic Animal Crackers: I couldn't
be more addicted to any food. Sad.

So it's my day off and it's also Spring Break and I have two sick children, has spent the las two days at the doctor for both children and we can't even go swimming or do anything fun because Bugs is contagious for a few more days. Good thing we didn plan a big vacation because THAT would totally suck.

hCG Giveaway!!!

I have decided to do a giveaway! It will be a 2oz bottle of hCG which will come along with the instructions to do the protocol. This is a $50 value!

All you have to do is visit my hCG website and tell me the "key words". You'll find them on the homepage. Then, leave me a comment on this post telling me what they are. That's it! The winner will be chosen on April 28th.

Talking About This House

Can I just tell you how much I love my house? If it were up to me, we would not move...ever. I know this house is very average, not new, has a lot of issues, has a really small master bedroom and an even smaller master bathroom with a tiny little shower, has the ugliest front porch you've ever seen, has absolutely no curb appeal, needs a new roof, new electrical, new plumbing, a new fence, new baseboards, new windows, and my storage room leaks like the sky in March, not to mention I only have a 1-car garage, a front door that looks like it's from the dark ages, and a number of other random problems. Haha, you think - there could possibly be more???? Ya, there's more.

But....I love it anyway. I'm not sure what it is about it but I do. It flows well for me, there's lots of room - plenty for everyone, the backyard is so huge and full of potential, I have a huge garden, a beautiful patio and it just feels like home to me. Truthfully I've lived longer in this house than any other home as an adult. We've been here for five years.

We always told each other that once our kids were in school we would try to stay put. I moved around a great deal as a kid and decided that's not good for children. We thought we'd be in our beautiful "new" home by the time Bugs started school. And then the economy hit us like a freight train and I mentioned to The Marshmallow last night that we'd probably be here for a long time. He signed (he does NOT like our house: his dreams are loftier) and agreed. And inwardly I smiled.

We were discussing the changes to this house we could make. It's a pastime we often engage in because it helps us feel like we're accomplishing things even if we're standing in the same place. We dream together and, I don't know, it brings us closer even if we never even do these things. Does that make sense?

We have this weird open space at the bottom of our stairs. Our stairs are at an angle through our house making the rooms around them more trapezoidal than square. Our kitchen is sort of a triangle, as is these rooms at the bottom of the stairs. I told The Marshmallow that it's the only thing about our house that is truly unique and has character and I don't want to change that. He hates that and disagrees. If it weren't for the fact that our floors are made of concrete, he'd have changed the layout long ago.

Anyway about the weird space: part of it I have converted to a kid's play area and I think it's a good utilization of space. And since my kids are playing in that space all of the time, I felt like the other half of the space would be best utilized by my office. And it works out pretty well. Except for the fact that both areas are constantly a huge mess. I have two desks in this area which are always cluttered with paperwork, random projects, my beads and any number of thing that is dumped here. The toy room is always a huge mess that anyone can see from my foyer as they glance down the stairs. Not good but functional.

So, the burning question is should I change this space? Both spaces look out to the east and get nice afternoon sun. There are huge windows and we have a slider that can replace one of the windows but we don't know which one. We can turn the office-type space into a kitchenette because it's plumbed for water. There's an atrocious door right in the middle of the wall that I'd prefer to remove. And we don't know if we should tile or carpet the whole space. I think tile especially because of the messy traffic in from outside (dirt, sand, leaves, snow etc.) and on carpet, it would be immediately destroyed.

Well, so that's what we're debating now. Besides the hallway bathroom upstairs, it's the last space that needs an overhaul. It's the only room that still has original carpet (like from when we moved in) and it's very industrial but really great for the kids' space.

Can you tell I'm thinking aloud?

For those of you who know this space, let me know what you think. Kitchenette or tidied up office? If you were a buyer, what would be more desirable to you - just in case we put it up for sale on a whim.

I almost forgot about the really cool plan we thought up too. Our house is really long and has a sort of flatter roof. The Marshmallow was talking about increasing the slope on our roof and in the process creating a bonus room space up there with some dormer windows on the front and back. I instantly thought of our old house which had this same thing. The attic was our master bedroom & bathroom. That house was much smaller but still we had a HUGE master bedroom. If we converted the entire attic to a master bedroom, it would be enormous and have a huge bathroom, even HUGER closet and even room for a sitting room with actual couches and maybe even a little library. I am all over that idea and just the thought of that makes me giddy! I know the process would be so painful but to have all of that space just for us would be so amazing. I'd never want to go downstairs!

My baby's sick with who knows what and has been for a few days and today I had to work. There's nothing in this world I hate more is to not be able to be with my kids when they're sick! it makes me feel like the worst mom ever!

For the record, I think it's rude to ask someone if they're on a diet. It's like asking someone if they're pregnant. Just don't go there! Play it safe, be polite and keep your thoughts to yourself.

Happy Easter

Well, Easter's now over but still Happy Easter anyway.

I'm still up, rather uncharacteristically for me lately because I've been at my computers all day finishing up my re-installs. They are never completely smooth. I finished my laptop nearly all the way but am being confounded by the installation of my primary printer. And now I'm waiting on the generosity of other HP forum readers to help me out. I'm staring impatiently at my in-box waiting for some blessed soul to give me the answer to my quest.

I also formatted my PC today and re-installed only very pertinent programs. This is my kids' computer and it only needs to be basic but it was loaded down with all sorts of my old crap since it used to be my primary computer. But it's done and it's wonderful. Like it's brand new all over again.

I made a real Easter dinner tonight. This is not my forte - cooking holiday meals. I just can't get in the groove. I usually completely miss the mark on big holidays like Christmas (we've had frozen burritos one year) and Thanksgiving (good thing we usually go to a relative's house or we'd be having shells & cheese and PB&J). I just forget that big detail in my preparations! Fortunately I had a ham in the freezer already so I plunked it in the roaster. I made some crescent rolls, buttered beans and the obligatory shells & cheese.

We were invited to my Grandma's for Easter dinner tonight and we planned to go until around 11am we realized that Tink was going to be a literal monster all day. I believe she was teething but it was murder around here all day and to take her anywhere would have been hell on wheels, and that's no lie. We thought we'd save our sanity and my mom and grandma's since they go crazy out of forgetting what it's like to have a teething munchkin.

Anyway, I AM going to bed now. Hopefully I'll get the email in the morning that solves my problems.

I hope YOU had a fun Easter. Nothing beats chasing your kids around the house with the video camera as they find eggs, candy, and baskets. I told The Marshmallow last night that this is my favorite part about being a parent. The holidays are the best!

My Two Front Teef

Bugs has officially lost both bottom and top teeth. Both top teeth were so loose they dangled there for days because she was too nervous to pull them. The top left actually fell out in her sleep but yesterday the top right started bleeding so The Marshmallow grabbed a piece of napkin to dab out out the blood and while he was at it, he grabbed the tooth too and pulled it out. She said she didn't even feel it and was so happy he did it. I can't believe she's lost all these teeth and she's not even 6 yet! I can't get over looking at that little face without baby teeth anymore.

Back Online

Wow! That was way easier than I anticipated. It went very smoothly getting my computer back working.

For future reference, and something I didn't know but when you re-install Vista and it tells you it's going to delete all of your data, it doesn't really. It throws it into a big folder called "windows.old" and it's all there, available for you to move around. It had me stumped for a while because I had hardly anything loaded on and yet it was taking up almost 100G! I couldn't figure out why I had LESS space than before I re-installed!

Fortunately I had stored the "set-up.exe" for all of my important programs on my external hard drive and could run them from there saving me a lot of time finding them on the internet or putting in CD's. Ahhh. It's nice to have a clean computer, it's almost brand new again!

Now onto the PC.

Status

OK. I'm back on-line with the laptop. Now I just need to find out if I saved all the necessary files AND if I have all the necessary CD's for re-installation of all my programs. I'm sure I forgot something.

Love/Hate Taxes

Are you an ostrich like me? If I am worried or scared about something money related, I stick my head in the sand and ignore it until it becomes a much bigger issue and demands my attention which usually, at that point, it is a huge mess and costs me considerably more angst (and money, lol).

At the beginning of 2009, I had to get my taxes done but I was so worried about some tax issues that we were having that I filed an extension and then shut it out of my brain. Yes, my mind would return again to it every now and then but the thoughts would be full of worry and anxiety.

I knew I'd have to get around to it eventually and so I did. I took it all to an accountant a few weeks back and started sorting through the mess. I have been so worried these past weeks about the penalties I'd have to pay for not getting them in before the extension ran out.

The accountant sent me the forms to sign today and I was absolutely blown away by the REFUND. I'm quite sure we've never received a refund that high before in our entire life. I'm totally freaking out because we need the money SO BAD and this is like a huge windfall.

I have high hopes now for 2009 because both The Marshmallow and I both only worked about 1/2 of the year, get to write off Tinkerpot and a whole host of other stuff that is good only in the world of taxes. I had to get Tink's social security number today and a few other business things and I'll be able to submit it all to the accountant this afternoon. I'm crossing my fingers for good luck!

Today is being allocated to deleting my laptop hard drive and doing a complete reinstall. I know I said I was to do it months ago but I chickened out. I'm ready. I'm sick of all of the problems I've been having. Wish me luck!

The Hurricanes I Bore

There has GOT to be a better way. GOT to be.

Every night it is the same old thing. The Marshmallow gets home from work (and this time always varies) and the whole house falls apart. Both of the kids' schedules self-implode and the world revolves around Dad. Which basically means that whatever messes have been created up until this point cease to become important to anyone, dinner begins and the evening routine starts. Everyone heads downstairs to decompress and chill and then another mess gets made in the family room.

So, a huge mess in Bug's room, a huge mess in the front room upstairs and then a huge mess downstairs. I've tried getting Bugs up early and chasing her around the house to clean them all up but that only stresses me out and she leaves for school crying.

I've tried making sure that all messes upstairs are clean before heading downstairs but often they slip through my fingers and are downstairs before the messes are cleaned up and The Marshmallow (being true to his gooey center) just says he'll come up and clean it up later. He also doesn't want to make Bugs clean up messes that perhaps Tink made so he'd rather clean them up himself than make Bugs do it. Cleaning upstairs before heading down is actually the most successful cleaning "rule" I've had but the downstairs is still a humongous problem.

Or, the time passes too quickly and before anyone is aware, it's time for bed and the mess wasn't cleaned up.

I'm totally sick of it. We all know who ends up cleaning up 60% of these messes! Seriously on Wednesday afternoon it took me 45 minutes to clean up the basement. It was disgusting and I was so sick of it that I honestly just walked around with a trash can and I threw away 25% of what was on the floor. I tied it all up in a garbage bag and threw it away while Bugs was gone. She'll never know the difference.

What am I supposed to do? What do other people do? I know I shouldn't allow cartoons right up to the point that she goes to bed but this is a routine between her and her dad where they get their snuggle time. It's family time down in the living room between 7 & 9 so it's not realistically the best time for cleaning but I don't know how to get around the horrible messes that get made in that time and I resent having to clean them myself. Usually if The Marshmallow says he'll clean, he doesn't because he forgets or it's just not as important to him as it is to me.

Sorry, I'm just complaining but I'm bugged and frustrated. Other people with kids can probably give me some tips?????

News On the Homefront Today

I'm taking this really good class at the rec center. I started it about two weeks ago and it's tough. It's called Power Core or something like that and it's all about toning and weights. I'm really loving it. Today during the class I found out that the three girls who are nearest to me are an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist and a Speech Therapist. What a small world! The OT (Danielle) and the ST (Natalie) work for Tooele School District and I'm not sure where the PT works. Anyway it's such a weird world.

In other news, the rash has gotten a little better mainly because of my diligence to using my allergy medication. But The Marshmallow told me today he feels badly that I've gone around for a week looking like a crazy cat got hold of me and he's willing to get the big-V. I must say it makes me a tad bit sad and that's such the opposite emotion I would have expected from myself. It means he's given up on convincing me that we should have another baby. Well, hadn't I given up? When I talk about having another baby I tell people I'd sooner chew my arm off. But I guess it's one thing to say you don't want more children and another thing to not be able to have more children. Not that him having a "V' would eliminate me from having more children ... well, you understand. I'm not going to go have another baby with someone else but duh - why am I even explaining this. I might just sleep on this for a week or two just to make sure I'm okay with it. On the other hand, he said "make an appointment" and if I wait, he might take it back.

I'm thinking of taking a trip to Idaho next week sometime for a couple of nights to visit my little sister who just had her 4th baby. This is the girl who now has 4 children under 4. I'm sure she was adopted because that sort of tolerance just doesn't run in the family. Personally I think she's nuts but I can't think of a better person to do this particular job. And, she is using my #2 most favorite name that I was going to use for Tinkerpot. She named the baby Charlotte. I just love that name and am so happy that now there's one in the family so even if I can't call my baby Charlotte, at least I can say the name lots. Plus, ended up I did get my very favorite baby name for Tink.

It's 8:30 now. One kid is abed and the other one is pending. I'm going to break my regular routine of lounging after the kids are down, and I'm going running. I've always liked to go in the evening and I'm a stronger runner at night but I get so lazy and so haven't done it much since Bugs was about 3. I need to get back up to my normal 5 miles.

Well, toodleoo. Hope you have a great night.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who still eats the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms. I'm so bad! If the fam caught me doing it, they'd kill me, haha!

In my job I work at a contracted rate per visit. It's been the same rate now for almost two years. Yesterday I emailed my boss about possibly increasing my contracted rate. So far, he hasn't responded. Why is it so nerve wracking to ask for more money? I know I am doing a great job so why do I feel so I insecure about it?

I feel like a terrible mom when I give my kids Mac 'n Cheese for dinner.

There is 22 minutes until Tink goes nitey nite and 43 minutes til Bugs heads up and 65 minutes until I get to put on my headphones and fall asleep to the great book I'm "reading".

One Excellent Reason To Get Married

The Marshmallow and I have known each other since we were very young. I think I actually met him when I was still 21 and he was not quite 26.

On our first date, I came ripping into his driveway in my cute little mx-3 with the sunroof open and some hard rock station blaring out the windows. He says I was smoking - ahhh, I probably was but don't tell anyone. An old habit that was kicked long ago. He also teases me a lot about that day saying that I was doing my best to look cool. Well, all I can say is that he noticed me and it didn't scare him away.

But back to why it's great to get married. Over the past...um....lots of years he's gone from 26, to 32 to, 37 to almost 41. I've gone from 21 to......where I am now. And as the years have gone by we've noticed various things happening to our bodies as gravity pulls, wrinkles become prominent and the early startings of arthritis start to make joints ache a bit in the morning. And then we laugh...at each other. We tease each other badly about getting old. And it makes it easier to take.

Take last night. I'll accept the fact that gravity has pulled my bum into non-existence. I have no bum. And I suppose what bum I do have sags. But I can totally laugh about it if he teases me about my grandma bum like he did last night. And I look forward to teasing him about his balding head. We'll grow old together and totally make fun of each other along the way. It's more fun that way.

I hope he doesn't gyp me out of teasing him about using a walker and carrying oxygen around by dying too young. That'll suck.

There is hardly anything better than starting out Monday morning with an already clean house!

Can't You Wait To Hear About My Rash?

Oh my Gosh people! I'm totally freaking out! I have never felt so completely enslaved to something. This rash has taken over my life!

Little history: I got the Mirena IUD put in last Thursday and oh my heck: it was painful. Let's just say that I don't look forward to getting another one in...ever.

It took about 3 days and I started noticing that my thighs right over my knees and my neck just below the hairline were itching. Then it was my palms, then my forearms, then my calves...then everywhere! And a ton! I looked it up online and turns out it's a pretty common reaction and listed as one of the possible side affects.

I wake up in the night clawing at my hands and arms and back and chest. Today at church I was sitting there talking to someone and I realized that I had pulled up my skirt (it was really long) up over my knees so I could scratch both of my legs with both hands and I realized how weird I must be looking. My neck/chest is so mottled that people are asking me about it! I am itching it constantly! My fingers are especially driving me crazy and because there's not much layer of fat under the skin on my fingers, it's so painful to scratch them the way I want to!

Even the shower drives me nuts because each of those tiny sprays of water pelts down onto my already itchy skin making me itch even more. It's torture.

I don't want to get the IUD out yet. I wonder if I wait a bit the reaction will go away. I've started taking an allergy medication and hopefully it'll help to take care of it. If not, I'll ask for a prescription of Prednasone or something similar. I can't take much more of this.

Cute Pregnant Girl...

I was sooo nervous to take the photos of my friend Korina. She wanted "artwork" and I was really intimidated. It's one thing to take pics of your own kid. If they don't turn out, so what. You try again the next day. But when a person comes to you specifically for beautiful photography, well - I sort of felt obligated to deliver (but I wouldn't take payment...yikes!). And although I can take an ok photo here and there, it's another thing to take a whole bunch of them.

But I did...she was so beautiful. It's so easy - when your subject is gorgeous she does all the work for you. I'm so proud of the way they turned out even if I only pressed the button. Look at her cute belly. She's due in May and believe me...she'll look this cute right up to the day of the delivery. This is her third baby - ya, do you believe it? Some of the photos were quite revealing so I'm just sharing with you a couple that maintained her dignity.

Anyway, thanks Korina for making it so easy for me to make you look beautiful!

In about 15 minutes I'm taking photos of my cute friend Korina. I'm so nervous! I'm sue they're going to turn out awful but I told her I couldn't promise anything. Good thing she's so laid back! I apologize in advance Korina but I couldn't have a prettier subject!

I wish someone had told me that having an IUD would make my whole body itch like I've walked in poison ivy n@ked. I'm scratching myself raw.a vasectomy is looking so apealing right now.

My yearly employee evaluation was this morning and I dreaded it. This past year has been hard trying to adjust my job schedule now with two kids and this job suffered hard core. I evenblew off two whole shifts. So I wasn't looking forward to what was in store. Turns out my boss forgot......just like that. So we're doing it by email which will be smoother and less likely to be so "in my face" bad. Too bad I left my spinclass 10 minutes early to be here on time! Crap!

I made it to spin class this morning even if I had to be 1/2 hour early. What a joke! So here I sit .........waiting. At least I got in though!

If a meal is a winner with Bugs then it is a winner with me! And Tiajuana Train Wreck was definately a winner with her; she even had seconds which NEVER happens. It was glorified taco salad with a sort of "chile" mixture that I ended up putting some hot sauce into just to give it a little more of a grown up flavor or else the sauce would have tasted sort of "chef boy r dee" ish. ID give it 3.5 stars and 5 for family friendly. NOT a low calorie choice though ;)

The train wreck smells good - we'll have to see if it tastes good!

Text Blogging

I've decided to start blogging by text in addition to sitting down and blogging by computer. During my day, I seriously have so many thoughts I'd like to post to my blog but can't because I'm nowhere near my computer...and by the time I am there, I've forgotten.

I could text my thoughts to my FB status but I am less and less enchanted by the time-sucking FB and who really is reading all my status updates anyway? A lot of people but there is no context! Here, at least is a monologue of my daily thoughts and my updates will be an extension of that.

So look for my updates here and probably now on a more frequent basis since now all I have to do is send a little text to my blog and *poof*: you're knowing what I'm thinking. Just what you always wanted.

ps: I get to send pictures, how great is that?

This is a test of the Emergency text-blogging device. This is only a test. Please stand by.

Tiajuana Train Wreck

The Marshmallow has a very annoying habit of coming in as I make dinner and looking around at the fixin's and saying , "What's is this?"

Um, dinner. Watcha think?

I say, "Do you want to know the name of it because that's not going to tell you anything." as I think back to the peculiar names that various things can be called in cookbooks like Husband's Delight (huh?) or Hospitality Casserole (how can a casserole be hospitable: wouldn't that be the cook for making it in the first place?)

Tonight I'm making Tiajuana Train Wreck. I thought the name sounded interesting. How did this dish get it's name. Does it look like a train wreck, all bloody and gory and messy? If so, I doubt I'll get any takers.

I downloaded a huge mess of crockpot recipes into my The Living Cookbook software - just another delight of this awesome program people. I'm so loving it I might marry it.

This is the recipe and I'll letcha'll know how it turns out:

Tijuana Train Wreck

=== SAUCE ===
2 lbs ground beef or turkey
2 Tbs chili powder
4 Tbs ssugar
1 large onion
1/2 can tomato sauce
3 small cans tomato paste
3 cans water - (to 4 cans), tomato paste size
Oregano, to taste
Cumin, to taste
Salt, to taste
=== TOPPINGS ===
Chopped tomatoes
Lettuce
Green peppers
Grated cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Doritos Chips

1. Simply brown meat and drain. Place all sauce ingredients in crockpot
including browned meat and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours
stirring on occasion.

2. Serve each plate in this order (bottom to top): Doritos on bottom; Meat;
Sauce; Lettuce; Tomatoes; Green peppers; Cheddar cheese; Sour cream for
topping.

3. This recipe yields 8? servings.

4. Comments: Here's a quick and easy recipe you can serve buffet style at a
holiday get-together like the 4th of July. This way each family member or
guest gets to build their own meal with their personal choice of toppings.
The sauce can be made in advance and then simply reheated or frozen for
later use.

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 495
Calories From Fat: 375
Total Fat: 41.9g
Cholesterol: 105mg
Sodium: 1395.9mg
Potassium: 504.7mg
Carbohydrates: 14.2g
Fiber: 1.8g
Sugar: 4.2g
Protein: 16.9g

Recipe Author: n/a

Recipe Source: Southern U.S. Cuisine (crockpot collection) at
http://southernfood.about.com


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Will The Real Amy Stand Up?

I've got my groove back on, that's for sure! I've been up at 4:45 every day this week to exercise, a feat that I only dreamed about just 6 months ago. It's important to me but I have to be in the right mindset for it. And now I am. I think it's the impending triathlon season that's got me motivated.

I don't want to suck. And clearly right now, I do.

I haven't been to a spin class at the rec center in a couple of years and I recall back then I was going to the Friday morning class. For those of you not up on "spin" terminology, that's "cycle class" in a dark room, set to really fast and loud music designed to bring on a stroke. It's effective. It's a great heart-busting class.

So I show up about 3 minutes early for the class and wasn't I surprised to see that the entire class was full! Last time I was came, there was only about 5 people in the class that holds 17 bikes.

When you first get to the rec center, like most spin classes, you have to sign up and I haven't yet figured out why you have to do that for this one class - why not a step class? So there was one last spot on the sign-up sheet so I signed up and then proceeded up to the class. I get in there and it's already dark and people are getting warmed up. I start looking for my bike...and there is none which means 1 of 2 things. 1: someone is there who didn't sign up (most likely) or 2: a bike is broken and they didn't tell the front desk.

I go back downstairs and the girl at the desk tells me that if I'd like I can take the roll up to the instructor and have her find out who didn't sign up and I could take the place. Keep in mind it's 5:15 AM. I got up FOR THIS CLASS. I grabbed the roll and started hiking up there because I was mad! I did the right thing and am now being screwed out of what is rightfully mine! I paused though imagining myself going through with what I was about to do:

The room is dark, the music loud. The instructor looks at me and realizes I want to talk. She stops biking and ushers the class to continue on. But she can't hear me! She takes off her headset and turns down the music in the room. All of the class people look at me with irritation. I give her the roll. She starts calling out names like we're in kindergarten. Someone says they didn't sign up. They collect their things. They say they forgot to sign up this time and are sorry. They leave. I walk, trying to keep my head erect over to the bike and get on feeling the whole time like a big heel. The girl obviously got there before me.

The indignant side of me says: "But you have a RIGHT!"

The "new" me who I didn't know was in existence says, "It's okay. Don't make a scene. That person will figure out eventually that they have to sign up. You can always come next time."

Wait. Where did that person come from? It's not like me not to cause a scene when one becomes available!

I'm rather proud of myself today. I deserve chocolate.

p.s. I didn't come home and go back to bed.