Cheese With That?

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Why, Yes, Yes I would.  Maybe some Brie with dried cherries and pecans.  Or maybe some really good Gouda.

I am a big o'whiney hot mess right now.  What I initially thought was allergies was not allergies and has turned out to be a nasty little cold.  It started out as a head cold and has now moved down my throat into my chest leaving me with a burning and the feeling that little tiny bee bees are rattling around in there when I cough, ricocheting all around.  Whenever I blow my nose my ears plug up and now I get dizzy.  

I'm trying not to sit around all day.  Yesterday I got it in my head that I wanted a smoothie and that turned out a mess in itself.  I spilled half my darling Clover's Strawberry Whirl all over the back seat of my Hubby's new car.  I had a minute where I was about to have a total meltdown.  I had convinced myself that  smoothies in the car would be fine.  It was totally my fault and I admit that.  I was sick and all I wanted was a darn Purely Pineapple.  So instead of crying, I drove right over to the car wash and gave them my sad story and they totally came through for me.

Of course I was honest with my husband and told him.  I was going to anyways but my tattling little daughter decided she was going to break the news to him first.  Of course when she told the story it was ALLL over the back seat and not just the passenger side.  She tells stories like her Daddy!  I still got the disapproving look when I told him but I think he took pity on me since I was a hot mess yesterday too.  I think he was happy that his car was cleaned and detailed too, despite the reason why.

Usually I work through whatever is bothering me but this cold has knocked me on my butt-butt!  I'm trying really hard not to sit around all day eating ice cream.  I feel guilty for having the TV on but I really have no energy to do anything else.

Right now I am still in my jammies.  My coffee is gone.  My hair is unbrushed and I smell like Vicks (the cream kind not the vaseline kind).  I'm not seeing very much getting done today but as much as I want to sit on the couch, guilt will eventually get the best of me and I will at least do a round of dishes and probably laundry.  Although I still want a smoothie, staying at home is probably in my best interest for today.

I am very appreciative that the timing of my cold was this week and not last.  I would have hated to be wondering around Disneyland with this.  So thats a positive.  Another positive is that the average cold only lasts 10 days or a week and half.  A couple more days and I should be somewhat functional and a few more days after that and I should be back to my normal less whiney self!

Missing

"Mom!  Soda is lost!  I can't find him anywhere!"

Apparently he was lost this morning!  Clover filled me in on the details for the poster.  But not to worry folks, we found him.  He was hanging out at the Costco gas station.  Where else would an imaginary dog hang out?  He followed us home.  

Me:  He's behind us?

Clover:  Yeah he's behind us.

Grandma:  He runs pretty fast!

Me:  Yeah like over 50 mph!  

When we got home Clover told us we left him outside so of course she had to go get him and bring him in. He's not in trouble or anything.  We are glad to have him home.  I feel bad that I didn't notice he was missing.  

If you are confused by all this just fill in the blanks here.  

The House of Mouse

I think that July's Reverb post fits in nicely with this blog post.

What new thing will you try this month?

I struggled with this one.  Other than recipes, I couldn't think of anything.  Writing about recipes just seemed to be a little boring to me.  That, and I already write and share new recipes so how would that be different from my other jibber jabber?

So, since we just got back from a quick (2 days in the park) vacation at Disneyland, I have some new stuff to write about.

I not only tried some new places to eat while at the parks but I also got on some new rides.  I'm not usually a Disneyland in Summer kind of a gal.  It's too hot for me!  I know it wasn't THAT hot but all that walking and sun and I got a little warm.  My powder sunscreen was no match for the sweat.  Between sweating and wiping my forehead I got a mild sunburn on my forehead and nose.  I was disappointed to say the least because that meant that for day number two I had to wear good ol fashioned cream sunscreen.  I knew I HAD too or risk an even worse burn.  But I didn't like it.  I already acknowledge that I am weird with sunscreen.  I don't like that it sits on top of your skin and doesn't rub all the way in like regular lotion does. I can't stand the sticky feeling on my skin.  Which is why I am so partial to the powder.  I wig out when I have to put regular sunscreen on.  I don't even know why but it gives me the heeby geebies.

We had originally planned to go in May.  I was really excited but due to the untimely passing of my Mother in Law, we rescheduled.  Then due to a scheduling conflict with Hubby's work, it once again got put off.  Which actually worked out in our favor because we all got the stomach flu that week.  So maybe I was itching a little to go.  So when were invited to go with some friends celebrating an anniversary, I jumped.  I wanted to go so much that I broke my "I'm not going back in the Summer ever again" rule.  We would also be going with Clover's best buds so I caved on the Summer thing.  We totally had a blast hanging out.  It was a great vacation.  Clover and I also got to do a lot of new things on the trip.

We have our favorites...

We did the early morning entry and got into Fantasyland an hour early.  Being able to get on the more kid friendly rides with little or no wait is awesome.  It's worth getting up early for.  The look on Clover's face when we asked to stay on the horses for another go around was priceless.  She was all about it.  Hubby decided to stay in the room and sleep in.  I don't blame him for wanting to rest and have a quiet room.  I have come to realize that my husband's Disneyland speed is not my own.  I'm a little faster than my husband and a little slower than SuperNova.  I am a medium.

We tried a character meal which we had never done before.  I was a little hesitant.  I have never really had very much luck with park food.  If it wasn't for the gentle nudge from our friends, I would have missed out.    I was sooo pleasantly surprised.  My tri tip lunch was totally awesome not to mention the desserts.  The break and hanging out with everyone gave me some much needed energy for the rest of the day.  Meeting the princesses was fun too, I don't mind getting silly.  I kind of felt bad since Clover only knew a couple of them.  Sleeping Beauty and Snow White are a little scary to me so we haven't really watched them yet.  She did see Snow White on the "Princess Bedtime Story" channel, so she recognized her.  

Having all these new experiences have opened my eyes a bit.  I guess I get focused on my favorites that I don't look outside my tunneled view.  I think I will have to expand a little bit more the next time we go back to see what I am still missing.  For the sake of this being a mile long, I tried to focus on the new things we tried.  I will throw and ellipsis in here and work on my other thoughts in another post.  I will write later about how much I love people watching at Disneyland...     

More to come...

Just got back from vacation.  I have lots of thoughts to post about and I am trying to catch up.  For now however I am attacking the laundry monster.  I also have to go grocery shopping so when I get a minute to sit down I will let my fingers dose out all of the thoughts currently taking up precious space in my brain.  But for now I have to go buy important stuff like baby wipes and bread.  Maybe I will go by Wendy's and get a Berry Tea.  Have you tried it?  It's yummy!  I love bribing myself to do stuff I should already be doing.  It's called motivation people!  

Re-Affirmations

Affirmation by Savage Garden via Grooveshark.  I had originally put a youtube video in here but thanks to Sony Music I can't play it on my blog so I decided to use Grooveshark instead.

There is this line in the song that goes "I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem".  That lyric has been stuck with me for about a week now.  It all stems from and interaction with my darling Clover.  I sat down and Clover pointed to my belly and and asked 

"What's that?" 

 "My roll"

"Oh."  She sat there for a minute.  "I love your roll, Mommy"

I had to laugh.  Once again my daughter had left me dumbfounded and at a loss for words.  What do I say to that?  My first thought was something self deprecating.  I as quick as possible had to move that thought out of my head.  I told her Thank You and that I loved her.  

So for the last week or so all these thoughts have been circling around my noggin.  I don't want my negative thoughts about my body to affect my daughter.  I know I have things I need to work on and I am making positive steps in that direction.  But I still have my days where I'm not all that confident in what I am wearing.  This isn't the first interaction with her where I have had to stop myself from making comments about myself.  

I am becoming more conscious of what I say.  Right now my daughter sees herself as perfect.  She doesn't see her scar.    Right now she sees her Mommy as perfect.  She doesn't see any imperfections.  She just sees me and she loves me for that.  Why would I tell her otherwise?  

So where does our self esteem comes from.  Is it influenced by outside sources?  Is it one of those temperaments that we are born with?  This is the part where I reference back to the song because there are some times when I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem.  They all at some point or another tell us that we should be comfortable with ourselves, and then offer a contradictory article on the opposite page.  Luckily, I have a few more years before she starts diving into Cosmo.  

For now, I am her first role model.  I know that all I can do is the try the best I can.  I can't be doing that bad of a job since she just came up and told me how pretty I look as I just get up in the morning and haven't had a moment to run a brush through my hair. I gave her a kiss and told her how beautiful she looked this morning.  One of those moments where I love my job.  

  

Juju Doesn't Schmooze

I've never been the one for small talk.  I feel awkward and at a loss for what to say.  I've never been very good at schmoozing it up.  Hubby however is fantastic at it.  He is the extrovert in this family dynamic.  I am the listener.  Thankfully our daughter got it from him.  

I never feel like I am missing out.  I just feel like I enjoy get togethers as a observationist rather than a participant.  Unless alcohol is involved then I get a little chatty.

This however, does not apply for my own get togethers or with people I know.  Once I get comfortable in a friendship I can chat your ear off!

I'm not sure how other people take it.  I'm not sure if they see me being antisocial or rude?  I hope not.  I do participate in conversations, I just don't say a whole lot.  I hope that it doesn't make me look disinterested.  I guess I have always been like that.  I would rather hang back and watch then blurt out my whole life story.

Maybe I could add it to the ever growing list of things to do to better myself.  "Learn the fine art of schmoozing".  I would place it right under "Perfecting the use of the hair straightener" and "learning how to be more girlie".  Wonder if there are classes for any of that?

    

Lessons of the Day

Lesson's of the Day.  Volume 1

Lesson #1:  Remember...REMEMBER where you put your car keys.  This morning while switching out the car seat, I placed mine on top of Hubby's car.  He was walking out to go to work and I was worrying about being out front in leggings and the horror of one of the neighbors seeing me.  I completely forgot I had placed them on the roof.  Side note:  Leggings don't have pockets.  This never would have happened had I been wearing jeans, I'm just sayin.  About a half an hour later I get a very perturbed Hubby on the phone.  At first I didn't understand why he was so upset and just assumed he was stuck in traffic and needed to vent.  Then the word "keys" came into play and my heart sunk because in that moment I remembered where my keys were.  A good samaritan waved him down and let him know that he was flying a key kite off the trunk of his car.  They had gotten wedged in between the windshield and the trunk.  So he called and told me to wait out front since he was bringing me my keys back.  Which then leads to

Lesson #2:  If you are worried about the neighbors seeing you in your leggings then you should just change.  I should have!  Because although I got lucky minutes prior, I was not fortunate the second time around.  My neighbor across the street got a good o view of my morning hair and pajamas.  Ahhhh suburbia.

 Lesson #3:  Although that kickin Mexican place you used to eat at when you worked at had great take out...that doesn't mean that their dine in service will be kickin as well.  Because it was not.  I thought it would be a good treat after visiting with a friend to take Clover out to lunch just the two of us.  Something that usually only gets reserved for when we are traveling.  So after himming and hawing over what we felt like eating we settled on this mexican place I used to get take out from on my lunch break.  I really wanted a King Nachos.  The problem with that was that we ONLY ordered the nachos and it took them an hour.  Meanwhile I had to entertain a three year old by myself.  I was a little grumpy at the lack of service so I will more than likely not bother to go there again.  Time to find a new nacho place.  Clover on the other hand did great.

Lesson #4:  Even if it sounds good at the time, set the massage chair on medium.  Hard will come back to haunt you the next day.  It felt good at the time to essentially have the rollers beat the heck out of my back yesterday.  This morning, I placed my hand on my back today and felt pain.  Not so good.  Is it even possible to bruise back fat?

Lesson #5:  Open Communication!  It is important to keep the lines of communication in your relationships open and clear.  Since I have been having problems in this category I am convinced I need to carry around a tape recorder and start recording conversations or politely asking the people in my life to send me that in email so that I have a paper trail.  For two weeks, I was under the assumption that I was in charge of dessert.  Tonight Hubby asks me why I am stressing over the cheesecake when I am supposed to be making rolls?  ROLLS?  Not once in this two weeks as rolls been mentioned.  Dessert has been thrown around several times.  Never the word rolls.  So I am making the cheesecake anyways.  It has been my experience that cheesecakes (even if they are bad) never make it to the leftovers plate.  It's like coffee...even if it's bad someone will still consume it.  Which leads to our last lesson...

Lesson #6:  Wash your hands after finishing anything involving melted chocolate.  I guarantee you that you will have that split second mental question while looking at the brown spots on your hands.  Especially if you have kids.  Even if they are in bed while you melted the chocolate...you will still have the "Is that Poo?" moment in your life.  The sniff test is always handy but I do not recommend the lick test unless you are absolutely sure that it is chocolate.  For all those who were wondering...it was chocolate.  I sniffed first.

Copyrighted

Honey, can I use your pictures for my blog?

No.  They are copyrighted.  You have to go to my website and fill out a consent form.

Since we are married I own half of them right?  I only used a couple so I should be good right?

I need a friend that is a lawyer.  

All pictures in this post are courtesy of the Hubs.   

T Minus Twenty Minutes.

Clover is settled into her pre-bed ritual.  She has an episode of Fresh Beats on so I have twenty three minutes to kick out a blog post.  It seriously does not seem like it is enough time considering we got a lot accomplished today.

Starting off the day, I logged in and noticed all the chatter on Facebook about making Gummies.  I was curious.  I have only dabbled in candy making myself.  Usually around Christmas time.  So I reached out to my online bff (google) to see if they had any answers for me.  Turns out that it's actually kind of easy.  Or at least this recipe is.  I made a double batch of the recipe over at Skip to My Lou.

Two ingredients and water.

A baby shower mold, an ice tray from Ikea and some Christmas Jello molds that I had in the cupboard. 

Cook.

Try to accomplish anything with a 3 year old under you sticking her fingers in everything.  Note to self:  buy her a hairnet!

They were very tasty!  Baby shower gummies.

I think these were my favorite of the batch.  From the Ikea ice tray.  Lightly dusted with cornstarch so they wont stick together.

So while on a roll with my creative crafty self, I decided to work on some ribbon dolls hair clips.  I followed the tutorial over at Life on the Ridge and made a Tinkerbell and and Ariel. 

Clover was not all that enthused about me taking a picture of HER Tinkerbell.  I had to bribe her with a fudge bar (which I was already going to give to her but she doesn't have to know that).  I also had to take about thirty pics to get a half decent one.  

This one I took in my hair.  I didn't notice the tiny glue spot on the tail until I looked at the picture later.  But in all honesty I am to lazy to take another picture and upload it.  

Rounding out the night I made Chili for dinner and Cornbread using this recipe from Epicurious.  I made a double batch of this recipe too.  Clover and Hubs will eat on it for awhile.  Turns out my mom didn't want any because I put real corn in the cornbread.  I always thought it made it taste better.  

Well, there is my twenty three minutes my dears.  I still have to get dinner put away and hop in Clover's room for some stories and bedtime.  Looks like I managed to get everything in there with minimal run on sentences.   Yay.  Go me!

For the Haters

At this very moment I have two completely different thoughts bubbling around in my noggin.  Both however fit under the blog title.  Both of them are relevant in my day today.  In no particular order...

Thought number one.  For the haters of the "New Marina"...Grow up, it's a kids show.  For those who have no idea of what I am talking about I will throw in some background info.  We watch The Fresh Beat Band around here.  Clover has been watching it since it debuted.  My darling Clover is a natural drummer so she LOVES the show.  For those who have no idea who the Fresh Beats are, here is the link to Nick Jr. They have made some cast changes in the show recently which has apparently sent some parents into a tissy.  These parents feel the need to hop online and spew this nastiness out into the interwebs.  I get the whole voice your opinion thing.  I really do.  Hellllooo I blog, so I get it.  But it just seems a little mean spirited to hop online and bash someone you don't know because they replaced your favorite character.  First Reed and now Marina.

My opinion on how they switched Reed.  The actor who played Reed had went back to his country and did not return.  I can see how that could be a problem for a blossoming show since he was one of the main reoccurring characters.  Even if they couldn't have filmed him out of the show they could have called the new guy Jr. and had him take over the music store and I would have been just as happy.  But that is the adult in me who watches TV and likes a smooth plot line.  This however is not adult TV.  It's a poppy, bright kid's show.  One of which my daughter adores.

On Marina.  Yes it would have made more sense to me to have her film a final episode and introduce the new girl as a sister or cousin.  But then again that is the adult in me.  I gave it three episodes and figured out that I actually love Tara Perry as Marina.  I loved Shayna Rose too.  I think it's sad that people feel the need to bash on her from things ranging from "She's to old" (for the record she is two years younger than Rose) to "She can't play the drums".  What you are experiencing is grief and anger because you think Nick Jr tried to pull a fast one over on you.  Get over it.  Both my daughter and I were able to quickly move on.  At three years old she realized that they changed Marinas.  She assigned the "old" Marina and the "new" Marina and was able to move on with her life even with the change.  From a kids perspective, the show is still fun.  It has catchy music that I find myself singing through out the day and wondering where I heard it.  Then I remember where it's from and I have an "Are you serious?" moment to myself.  They also have a #1 download on Itunes right now.  Crazy huh?      

Thought number two.  For all the haters that said that I couldn't live without a microwave...hahaha.  Last month I managed to somehow kill ours again.  Yes I just used the word "again".  Which would imply that I have killed more than one.  The last time I bought a "back to school" microwave.  It lasted under a year.  So that means in a year period I managed to kill two microwaves.  I did use it a lot.  I made oatmeal in the mornings, defrosted meat,  micronuked veggies, and a slew of other things.  Bacon was my favorite since it only took a few minutes.  The side of it started smelling and sparking one day and that was it.  Bye Bye microwave.  I got a lot of flack about how the last time I ran back out and bought one.  Convinced I couldn't live without it.  What a difference time makes because this time I was pissed.  So I decided NO MICROWAVE.  It went out and has not been replaced.  I heard about how it wont be long until it gets replaced.  The spot on the counter is still empty.  Guess what?  I'm still alive.  Turns out that you can use the stove or a toaster oven for almost everything, minus the microwave popcorn I had already bought.  I have decided just to take it with us when we travel since a lot of the rooms we stay in have microwaves.  Today I reheated some leftover favorite cheese pizza in toaster oven and it came out fantastic!  Then I just sat there and thought...for all the haters...ha ha ha!

Today has been pretty mellow.  It's given me lots of time to think so maybe that's where all my random thoughts came from today.

Let's Chill

It's no secret that anxiety along with stress and I are on a first name basis.  I am always weary about what's around the next corner.  To the point where it keeps me up at night.  Everything is good right now, but I find myself having a hard time enjoying it.  Fear sometimes keeps me grounded.  So as we headed to the beach on Sunday to get some much needed family time, I had a nice little conversation with myself.  I felt the anxiety, stress and fear penetrate my armor.  I looked out the window and started to stress over what was around the next corner, figuratively and literally.  Then out of nowhere this voice that was so tiny, got stronger.  Not to mention louder.

Chill Out and Shut It!

Message received.  Loud and clear.      

I'm glad I listened.  I had an awesome weekend.  I spent some time with some good friends and spent a lovely Sunday with the two loves of my life.  Even today I started to feel anxious and gently reminded myself to chill out.  So far it seems to be working.  I'm sure it wont always so for now I am enjoying my time.  Clover is tucked in bed.  Hubs is teaching his online class and I have two free hours to do whatever I want.  Enjoying a nice glass of California Raspberry and a Brie cheese platter with dried cherries and pecans.  Not to mention I have full control of the remote!  

The Return of Soda

So for the longest time my daughter has been a night waker.  When she was little I would go in and comfort her and she would go back to sleep.  I know there are a lot of you that are going to scream "cry it out" but I couldn't let her sit in a dark room and cry.  Feel free to judge away.  So I go in and kiss her good night and she goes back to sleep.  Since she has had her big girl bed she now gets up out of bed, opens the door and comes and gets in bed with us.  If it's closer to 12, I walk her back to her bed.  If it's closer to 5 then she gets to stay since she will sleep a little later in our bed.  We cycle through night wakings.  Some months she has one or two nights where she gets up and some months she gets up every night.  Earlier this year I was at my wits end on what to do.  So I asked her.

"Babe, Why do you keep getting up and getting in our bed?"

"Mommy, there is a dog in my room."

Bewildered, I pressed on.

"What dog?"

"His name is Soda.  He comes out of the hole in my floor.  He gets in my bed with me and wakes me up."

She was 2 and about 3/4's when she came up with this little story and I have to admit when she told it my mouth dropped.  I just stared at my husband for a minute.  What?  Really?  Did she just make all this up on her own?  What do I do now?

I was a little stumped on what to do next since she has a fear of dogs.  Our neighbors dog has been a thorn in my side since she is deathly scared of him and his favorite activity is to sit by her window and bark his head off.  At first I thought she was talking about him.  I asked her to show me the hole and she brought me into her room and showed me the tiny space in between her bed and the floor.  Most kids have imaginary friends or monsters...mine has a dog.

So we played a long.  We told Soda to get out and we even brought in her Deee to help board up the hole so Soda could no longer get out.  It stayed like that for while.

Then tonight...

"Mom...Soda is under my bed again"

"What?"  I laid down and started to shout at our imaginary dog and Clover yelled at me.

"Mooooom.  Nooooo!"  She continued with "Soda is a good dog!  He watches over me at night now"

She then called him up on her bed and laid down.  "Cmon Soda.  Get up here...See Mom...He sleeps with me and I stay in my own bed".

Again I sat there completely bewildered and muttered out and "oooookay".

I'm glad that she was able to become friends with Soda.  We could use a guard dog around here!  

 

We're All In This Together!

Here and now its time for celebration
I finally figured it out (yeah yeah)
That all our dreams have no limitations
That's what its all about(yeah yeah)

Everyone is special in their own way
We make each other strong (we make each other strong)
Were not the same
Were different in a good way
Together's where we belong

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come true


Using HSM as a theme just seemed to fit this year's Fourth of July party.  We went a little silly with it and had pom poms and Red Velvet Brownies.  We even had an East High Wildcat Cheerleader!  Even if she only wanted to yell "Wildcats!"  Being three, she had lot's of natural enthusiasm.  Thanks Christina for the costume.

 
I found the Red Velvet Brownie Recipe at Adventures in Juggling.  Instead of the Buttercream I used Cream Cheese frosting.  I really just wanted a reason to make Cream Cheese frosting.  I exercised self control and did not dive head first into the bowl.  I did however share the beater with Clover when we done.  I did have to use a "brownie hiding" device aka a bowl over the plate so that little fingers did not creep up and snag all the frosting off of the brownies.

    
We had a blast hangin out back despite the heat we managed to stay cool.  We were a little discouraged by all the last minute cancelations but as soon as more friends started arriving, the festivities were underway!  Clover had a blast making new friends and hanging out with her best pals.  It was really cute watching the youngins get all into the fireworks.  Thanks Grandpop and friends for the fireworks.  We took turns with the neighbors across the street lighting off fountains, between the two of us we were out there for awhile.  We like to place them up on a ladder so that everyone can see them.  


I am very fortunate to have friends who don't mind helping out here and there when they come over.  I actually felt like I got to enjoy my own party.  Thanks everyone!  We had chili nachos so all the cooking was done in the crock pot.  Despite the three blackouts, everything went pretty well.  I think this was the first time I can remember that we went through and entire can of nacho cheese!        


So just in case you have never heard the song...Here is an earworm for the day!

Checkin Off the List

We went out yesterday to run some errands and my poor Clover got a heat rash.  So today we thought we got out early enough to beat the heat.  No luck.  Still hot.  Clover's heat rash returned.  So for the rest of the day we have been held up inside.  So what to do for the rest of the day?  We got in the kitchen and made a double batch of some Kool-Aid Playdough.  So we can scratch that off of the Summer List.  

Mix together dry ingredients.

(It is helpful if you have a Red Head Cutie helping you)

Add Kool-Aid (we used lemon lime) to the water and add.

Cook on medium heat until mostly cooked.

When cooled to the touch, knead until smooth.

(Thanks to the Hubs who brought me a treat) 

Thanks to Tee who took pictures of us kneading and playing.

Then we hung out outside while the boys worked on some outdoors projects.  While outside I started the grill up to make grilled pizzas and once again managed to catch the grill on fire.  Yes they are supposed to be on fire...but when you turn off the gas there shouldn't still be a flame gently kissing the trees above.  It has managed to catch on fire at least once a year.  To the point where baking soda is in the cupboard is not for baking.  So with the grill cleaned off it was time to make dinner.  We had grilled pizza made with home made pizza dough from a totally awesome recipe here.  

Nice way to kick off the three day weekend.  Minus the heat rash issues and the grill catching on fire.