October 30, 2008
Five good reasons to stay home from work
This morning was one of those. Let me give you a small list as to why I should have just turned around, went back to bed and hid under the covers. At least until Pluto becomes a planet again.
- When my alarm went off this morning, I rolled over and hit the snooze button. Wait! Let me rephrase that! I THOUGHT I hit the snooze button. As it turned out, I was wrong.
- After a marathon which included taking a shower, getting dressed and gathering all of my stuff, I raced out the door and hopped into the car. When I started it up, I remembered that I needed to get gas. I'm already running late and I need gas. Do the math.
- As I'm heading down our rural road, I pass the rather large curve that is accentuated by a huge, eerie looking Oak Tree. Even though I have my brights on (there are NO street lights), I narrowly miss making ham and pork chops out of a huge pig (hog?) and her three babies. I may have wet myself a little (sorry Mom). This in turn, causes my purse, lunch and cell phone to plummet to the floor, summarily dumping all of the items out of my purse and causing the top of the container to come off my lunch. Thankfully, the cell phone was safe. There is a God.
- Due to the fact that I was running late (see #1 and remember I normally go to work at O'dark thirty), the gate was lined up with cars waiting for entry. When I got up to the guards to flash my badge, I belatedly realized (you could see this coming couldn't you, come on, tell the truth) that I had forgotten my badge. I had to turn around and head on in to Pass and ID to get a temporary one. Lovely.
In brief, let me summarize the first 60 minutes or one long hour of my day. I woke up late this morning due to a malfunctioning alarm clock (not human error you understand). I had to fill up my gas tank because my husband doesn't love me enough to instinctively know when I am too lazy to do it the night before need to have it taken care of. I nearly made a ham and cheese omelet on the grill of my car, and spewed the entire contents of my purse and lunch on the floor. It's important to note that no cell phones were harmed in the potential bacon fest. To top off the morning festivities, I forgot my badge.
Despite the inauspicious start, I had a fantastic day. I accomplished what I needed to get done and it felt really good.
To hell with it, maybe I should be late more often!
Posted by Moogie at 4:27 PM | Comments (2)
October 29, 2008
I'm changing my name to Aunt Bertha
Meelie: Mom!
Me: Yes sweetie?
Meelie: Mom!
Me: Yes?
Meelie: Um, um, um...
Me: What is it honey?
Meelie: Mom!
Me: WHAT?
Meelie: I forgot.
Chickie: Mom, will you wash these jeans for me?
Me: Honey, it's 9:30 at night.
Chickie: But I really want to WEAR them tomorrow.
Me: Didn't I ask you to bring me my dirty clothes about 3 hours ago?
Chickie: Well I was busy doing a project.
Me: Oh, you mean the one you knew about two weeks ago?
Chickie: Mooooom!
Me: Sniff, sniff. They don't smell funny and there is no dirt on them. They look clean!
Chickie: Very funny Mom.
Me: I wasn't trying to be.
As heard on our way to Wallyworld the other day:
Chickie: Mooooooooom!
Me: What is it now honey?
Chickie: Meelie is flicking her boogers at me!
Me: Honey, quit flicking your boogers at your sister.
Chickie: Ewwwwww!
Me: Now what?
Chickie: She just ate one!
Me: Meelie!
Meelie: Well, they taste good.
Hi! My name is Aunt Bertha! What's yours? It's so nice to meet you!
Posted by Moogie at 5:25 PM | Comments (3)
October 28, 2008
I'm watching you
I'm sitting here at the dining room table while I am typing this post, and as I glance out the window to the left of me, I see Tiny, our biggest dog, gazing sorrowfully at me with her big brown eyes (OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!).
"I'm watching you. Yes you, sitting there on your comfy chair where it is WARM, while I, YOUR dog, is out here with the other two insufferable mongrels where the weather is frighteningly cold. I hope you are happy when I come down with pneumonia!"
Yeah, like that is going to work. Moving right along.....
We have gone through a big reorganization at work, which requires much moving of desks and offices, and did I mention the dust? I do have one important question for you that I have never understood. How in the WORLD do you collect so much stuff in a short span of time? Even though they moved the desks themselves (so we didn't have to empty them), I went ahead and cleaned and organized it. I believe I had approximately 27 pens, 12 highlighters, and 22 pencils. I have so many post-it-note pads that I could probably wallpaper our office. I have documents that dated all the way back to 2005, and they were from when I was in Finance. Now tell me please, why in the world did I still have these?
Speaking of dust, there was so much of it I was afraid that it would all come together in one blob (do you remember that movie?) and scoop me up, swallowing me whole. I'm quite sure that I sneezed more times today than I have in the past year. I felt like I needed to take my eyeballs out and clean them with Clorox and vacuum my nose out. Your welcome.
Despite all of this, it felt really good purging all of the contents of my office. I could feel the immediate gratification of having a clean and organized area. Now, I have to just put it all back together tomorrow morning, but that should be fun. I have so much more ROOM! The bets are now on as to how long this will last.
Posted by Moogie at 4:29 PM | Comments (3)
October 27, 2008
When I first saw you
We are going over to my girlfriend's tonight to celebrate her birthday. AND.I.DON''T.HAVE.TO.COOK! Woot.
At any rate, I'm finishing some stuff up at home and Meelie offered to write a post for me. Let me preface this by saying she is starting to like boys. And I can't keep up with it. Should I be worried?
When I first saw you I was afraid to meet you.
When I asked you out and when all of that was over I was afraid to hug you (I know you were too).
When I hugged you I was afraid to like you a lot.
When I liked you a lot I was afraid to loose you.
When I knew I was not going to loose you I was afraid you would not go to the same school as me in middle school.
When I knew we were going to to the same middle school as me I was afraid we were not going to the same high school.
When I knew we were going to the same high school I was afraid we were not going to the same college.
When I knew we were going to the same collage I was afraid you were not going to say I do.
Love always,
Meelie
About the author:
Meelie No is an acclaimed author of many short stories. She is currently residing at home with her Mom, Dad, Sister and a various assortment of pets. She is in 5th grade at a local elementary school but is seriously thinking of dropping out and persuing her dream of breaking the record of the amount of cartwheels done in the living room during a 24 hour period. She loves hot wheels, getting dirty and water balloons. She is working on becoming an Olympic Gymnast and seeing how many gray hairs she can give her mother in a short period of time.
Posted by Moogie at 5:59 PM | Comments (3)
October 22, 2008
Sisters
Oh my. The things I could write about you two.
- How you get along fabulously 95% o the time, but during that 5% you fight like there is no tomorrow and make me want to pull whatever is left of my hair RIGHT.OUT.OF.MY.HEAD.
- How you both are over protective of each other. It's ok for one of you to pick on the other but Lord help the dumb fool who picks on your sister.
- How one of you is just like me, and the other just like Dad, which sometimes causes an uproar at inopportune times.
- How you both have unique styles, which have become less eclectic (thankfully) as you have matured.
- How you are different, just like night and day. One of you is so easy going, come what may, and the other is stubborn and hates having the schedule changed. And how I wouldn't change it for the world.
- How you both make friends so easily, and you are not into cliques in any way shape or form. How you are both for the underdog and aren't afraid to stand up and say it.
- How you both comfort each other when one of you gets punished for some wrong doing that apparently, you parents made up. You agree on how up tight we are, and how we just need to chill already.
- How you both love to snuggle up to me in bed and watch CSI of any kind in the evening.
- How you both are becoming your own person and not relying on what the other one does, and how your true personalities are coming through.
- How you both give me a hug when I come home from work and ask me how my day was. And how you will tell me that you love me as long as none of your friends are around. And how you delight me when you tell me you love me AND you give me a kiss, in FRONT of your friends, if you are so moved.
- How you both drive me to distraction at times, and constantly test my parenting skills.
- How you both share things with me, but keep some stuff to yourself. Which is fine with me, because I know if it is important, you will come to me for advice.
- How I love you both more than you love me, of course I love you both just a little bit more.
Happy Love Thursday everyone. May your life be filled with love, no matter where it comes from.
Posted by Moogie at 5:56 PM | Comments (1)
I PROMISE I'll take care of him
As children grow up (and mine are no exception) they lean towards the desire of owning a pet. Experienced parents know that this translates to the kids taking care of the pet dutifully for about 1 1/2 days. Then begins the endless nagging. Did you check their food and water? You need to clean the cage. Before you know it, presto! The parents become the caregivers. Does this sound familiar? I thought so.
The Parent Bloggers Network is asking us to write a post on your blog telling tales about our pets, the ones that we had growing up as well as the ones we have now. Now this is something that I can talk about.
When I was growing up, we had a family dog name Samson. He was a Pekinese Poodle and just about the cutest thing since baby's chubby feet. He was a really pampered dog and loved by everyone in my family. He loved his doggie treats and I was able to teach him some different tricks. He wasn't a barker by any means until I taught him how to "speak" on command. To this day, I don't believe that my mother has ever forgiven me.
Besides Samson, I had a myriad of Goldfish, named Goldie mostly. Once I had two and named them Goldie and Locks. Get it? I even named one of them Spot. They were all housed in a round, glass fish bowl, normally filled with colorful marbles. Besides the fish, my next most popular pet I owned was hamsters. I remember one year my brothers brought me a Habitrail for one of them I had and from there on in, my hamsters lived in the Ritz, complete with valet parking. My hamsters lived in style.
I would have to say that my favorite animals I had were birds. For much of my teens and into my early twenties, I had parakeets. I really loved training them and how all I needed to do was open the cage and they would fly right to me. My favorite bird of all times was a Cockatiel named Smokey Joe. He was gray and white, with a head of spectacular yellow with a smidgen of orange on his cheeks. He could talk, and sing. One of his favorite songs was to the tune of "The Entertainer" (thanks to piano lessons). He could even imitate a phone ringing which fooled my husband many times. I used to laugh when he would go answer the phone because Smokey had tricked him into thinking it was ringing. Alas, all good things must come to an end. No, he didn't die. He found another love. The girl's babysitter had an aviary out back and she had a couple of cockatiels she wanted to breed. I agreed, and as it turned out, Smokey Joe found his true love. No, not the other two female cockatiels. He would have nothing to do with either one of them. Are you ready for this? He fell in love with a Parrot. Every time I went to pick my kids up or drop them off, he would be sitting underneath the parrot. It was a hard decision but I decided to let him stay. After all, he had all of this free space and the love of his life. I couldn't break his heart. All that I could offer him was a cage when I was gone, and my shoulder to snuggle up to when I was home. It was the best thing for him.
After Smokey, my husband and I got a Miniature Schnauzer named Shoestrings. His name wss very appropriate. When we first saw him, the owner put him down between us and the first thing that he did was run to my husband's shoes and untie his laces. He was awesome. He barked too much, but oh, how he loved to sit on your lap, or go for walks. He was really smart and picked up phrases fast. We ended up calling Milk Bones "Cow Fossils" and had to change Feed to dog to "Doof the Loof." It wasn't long before we had to change those as well. Not necessarily in that order. He was a great dog. It was tough on my husband and I when he passed and several years went by before we were even ready to think about another dog.
Then there was Tiny. Tiny is a Basenji-Cattle dog mix. When we started thinking about another dog, we went to an adoption fair held by one of the local rescue centers. We looked at countless dogs and played with them. Tiny was on of the last one's that we looked at and she immediately captured our hearts, Chickie's and Meelie's included. After much discussion and hemming and hawing, we decided to adopt her and she officially became part of our family. She is definitely a Mama's girl, this one. She is also and escape artist. She's very protective of those that she considers "hers."
A few years after we moved to Georgia we had occasion to get another dog. There was a Miniature Pinscher that was pregnant with five puppies. Our neighbor’s sister (who is a dog lover in her own right) happened to be at the Humane Society when she heard about this dog and found out she was scheduled to be euthanized the next day. She promptly adopted the dog, and Bruiser is the result of that pregnancy. Bruiser is a Min Pin/Dachshund mix. He reminds me of a little old lady. He always runs around with his tale between his legs and is very nervous, except of course when you are holding or cuddling him. He is by far our biggest barker and an annoyance beyond belief at times. Even with all of that, and his penchant for bathroom trash cans (you don't want to know) we still love him to pieces.
You would think we would stop at two dogs, yes? Ah, but you would be wrong my dear blog readers. Have I told you the story about Ralph?
You see, Ralph was destined to be ours. One of our neighbors nearly ran him over on our street. He had no tag. They took him in and we all came over and visited. There was much ooing and ahhing over him, and "OMG...he is so precious!" Then we went home and during the course of the night, discussed adding him to our family. By the time I got the ok from my husband the next morning, the Humane Society had already came and picked him up. In a word? I was heart broken. I immediately called them and was told that I had to wait seven days so that they could evaluate him and make sure no one was looking for him. It was the longest seven days in my life. Finally we were able to go get him and we adopted him on the spot. Ralph is the smallest of our dogs, and the most timid. He is part Dachshund/part whatever the heck (according to the Vet) and the most loving and cuddly of all of our dogs. His Vet believes he was either abused or severely neglected. He trembles when you try to take him out of his cage. He trembles when you pick him up or hold him, but he buries his neck in your shoulder and then licks you. He loves to take a bath for no other reason than to get wrapped up in a big, thick towel just like a newborn.
In addition to the dogs, the kids have had all kinds of fish, hamsters and guinea pigs. Our current resident is a guinea pick named Anna, who is white with brown spots placed strategically on her body to make her the cutest little rodent on the earth. I love to hold her while the girls are cleaning her cage. When I run my hands down her back or scratch her behind the ears, she purrs. I can feel it down to my toes.
So there you have it. I guess you could say that we are animal lovers. Although the kids balk at doing some of the chores that come along with having animals, we don't back down. They have really learned that having animals coincides with responsibilities. For the most part, they are ok with that. I think they just might be learning something here.
“This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.” in order to promote their latest line of Club BK toys - iDogs!
Now, what about you? Tell me about your pets or lack thereof.
Posted by Moogie at 7:31 AM | Comments (1)
October 19, 2008
The 2008 Presidential Election
Politics has always been a verboten subject on my blog. My political beliefs are just that. Mine. You have a right your opinions and I have a right to mine. I've never been one to spout my beliefs in casual conversation nor in the written word. I've really never felt the need. I guess it's the Presidential campaign that has made me move out of my comfort zone and speak up.
Lately, I've been reading about one of the latest debates between Obama and McCain. You probably have seen the reactions yourself in many of the popular blogs as well as others on the internet.
Case in point? A very eloquent and well thought out post written by Alexa of Flotsam:
"McCain states that he would deal with the issue of abortion with “courage and compassion.” I quote: “the courage of a pregnant mother to bring her child into the world and the compassion of civil society to meet her needs and those of her newborn baby.” As if terminating my pregnancy would be the easy way out, the way not requiring his precious “courage.” As if dictating my medical care based upon his religious beliefs is compassionate. And I find it interesting to note that his “compassion” for this newborn does not extend to guaranteeing it health insurance."
Another thoughtful post from Julie, at A Little Pregnant:
"He means us when he holds up his hands and says with that single scornful gesture that we don't matter. That we are a figment of the "pro-abortion movement's" imagination. That — what, we're making this whole "staying pregnant might kill me" thing up?... even if you're implacably, unconditionally opposed to abortion, a matter on which reasonable people disagree, I don't see any way a thinking person can look at those air quotes and see anything but pandering, contempt, and a dangerous willful ignorance."
Note: I followed links from this post for the above articles.
McCain never stated that he was against abortion if the mother's health was at stake. For religious reasons, I'm thinking, he doesn't believe in it. For the record, I'm pro-choice, and I do not believe that the government should have any say on this subject. That being said, I wonder if folks are taking this stand because of Palin's vehement anti-abortion stance? While I'm at it, do you think we can stop bringing up her pregnant 17 year old daughter? What does that have to do with anything?
I guess one of the things I thought of was how much of an impact does this have on our country? Does it affect our national security? No. Does it affect our economy? Not directly. In my position, I have the need to take a look at the whole picture and not single out one issue.
Below is just a part of my take on McCain and Obama, and what I perceive as facts. Please note that this is my interpretation and I am in no way trying to state that my position is the correct one.
Senator John McCain served in the Viet Nam War. He was shot down in North Viet Nam and was a guest at the fabulous Hanoi Hilton for 5 1/2 years. He was leading men in combat (Squadron Commander) when he was shot down. He did a couple of terms in the House of Representatives, and subsequently won the election to the Senate where he has served for 25 years and is now running for President. I'd say he's pretty qualified in experience.
Now let's be respectful and take the same look at Senator Obama. He graduated from law school (Ivy League). He did a stint of community organizing for "Project Vote." In the early 1990's he provided advice and training to Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which is currently under investigation for voter registration fraud. He held a high position in the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (something that was supposed to reform education but in the end, didn't do much). He was proposed as the Chairmen by Bill Ayers.
While I'm at it, let's talk about Mr. Ayers, the guy who lives on Senator Obama's street. When Obama was running for the state of Illinois, he kicked off his campaign in Bill Ayer's living room. Even faced with that, Senator Obama claims he did not have a friendship with Ayers.
Let's look at this fact a little closer. In the 1960's and 1970's, Mr. Ayers founded and was active in the radical left organization, Weather Underground. Just before 9/11, Mr. Ayers was quoted as saying "I don't regret setting bombs" and "I feel we didn't do enough." Some members of the Weather Underground are serving long prison sentences, and David Gilbert is serving life. Mr. Ayers, and his wife Bernardine Dohrn (who was also an active member) turned themselves in but served no prison time.
But Senator Obama claims that Mr. Ayers is "just a guy in the neighborhood" who he served on a couple of committees with.
My feeling is, take a look at the facts. What has each candidate done? What experience do they have? How will their views impact the country? Weed out the unnecessary mudslinging. For me personally? I look at experience. I look at reputation. I look at political views.
How are you going to vote?
Posted by Moogie at 6:34 PM | Comments (1)
October 15, 2008
Recap of 14th Birthday Party
How many of you remember this post? Well, when all was said and done I think she was a happy camper. Rather than give you a blow by blow account of the evening events, I've captured all of the highlights in the slideshow below.
Enjoy!
Posted by Moogie at 6:36 AM | Comments (1)
October 13, 2008
Lazee Dayz
Many Sundays around Chez Moogie are spent lying around, relaxing or paying games like Monopoly or Uno, imbibing in wine, beer, things like Crystal Light or Hot Chocolate, depending on the weather. Generally I start the day by heading on out to Wally World to do my weekly grocery shopping. If I'm really lucky, the girls go with me (cough). After I get all of my purchases put away, I'm generally ready to do.....whatever.
Sometimes that just involves going through my email, surfing some of my favorite blogs or curling up in the sun room with a good book. Sometimes the girls and I will go shopping. We don't always have anything specific in mind, just hanging out. We might go to the movies, or as a family do a day trip. It's really a "come what may" kind of day. Take this past Sunday for instance. It was raining pretty hard, and generally gnarly outside. My youngest was off to a play date with her best friend, my eldest and her friend shifted between watching TV or playing on the computer. My husband was relaxing, reading a book and I was getting my daily blog fix.
Relaxing. Nice and easy. Stress free. Just what the doctor ordered.
Eventually real life breaks through and I realize that I do need to do some work. I've got the never ending pile of laundry to do (with help from Mr. OWW and Chickie) and I really need to tackle the kitchen. The floor looks like I have 3 dogs and two kids, the more destructive of which is debatable. Oh wait! I do have 3 dogs, and two kids! Never mind.
The living room, dining room and sun room need to be picked up a bit. I let it get ahead of me over the week. I've already told Chickie she needs to clean her bedroom because it is a disaster area and an accident waiting to happen.
I actually don't mind doing the pick up because generally, we've been able to keep it at a minimum because I am constantly after the girls to PICK.UP.AFTER.YOURSELF.ALREADY! Sound famliar? I love to clean the kitchen, and then the floors. It smells so great afterwards, and you see immediate results. After that, it's a bit of dusting and some vacuuming and I'm done. I generally try to tackle one part of the house a night so I don't have to do it all on the weekends, but the last couple of weeks have been a bit hectic due to work schedules and me generally feeling crappy.
Before I do any chores today though, I'm going to bake a cake. Why? No reason, just because I want to. Well, there is that and of course, because of these two. How can I resist making them happy?
The cake is now in the oven, and it is filling the house with wonderful smells. The living room and dining room have been picked up, most of the dishes are done and I'm about ready to get the steaks ready for tonight, and marinate some of my meats before freezing. Things here are still relaxed, and Chickie and her friend got the cleaning bug and are helping out by polishing the furniture and vacuuming the floors. I'll take any help I can get.
With the kitchen now clean, I present to you dinner, and dessert.
Steak, it does a body good!
Decorated entirely by Chickie and Miss S.
I really couldn't have asked for a better Sunday. What about you? What do you do on your Sundays, or whenever you have time to relax, either as a family or just yourself?
Posted by Moogie at 4:48 PM | Comments (2)
October 12, 2008
I'll show you mine, if you show me yours
For many people, planning and cooking meals can be a chore. It becomes rather complicated when you also factor in kids, homework and extra curricular activities. That being said let me give you an example of our schedule. Keep in mind that this does not include homework, baths or bedtime routines, nor does it factor in things such as laundry, doctor's appointments, board meetings, etc.
Monday:
Me: 5:30 - 3:00 - Work
Him: 8:00 - 5:00 - Work
Meelie: 4:00 - 7:00 - Gymnastics
Tuesday:
Me: 6:00 - 3:30 - Work
Him: 8:00 - 5:00 - Work
Chickie: 6:00 - 8:30 - Dance
Wednesday:
Me: 6:00 - 3:30 - Work
Him: 8:00 - 5:00 - Work
Meelie: 4:00 - 7:00 - Gymnastics
Chickie: 6:15 - 8:30 - Dance
Thursday:
Me: 5:30 - 3:00 - Work
Him: 8:00 - 5:00 - Work
Meelie: 4:00 - 7:00 - Gymnastics
Chickie: 7:30 - 8:45 - Dance
Friday is a free day, as there are no extra activities for the kids, so the only thing we have to worry about is going to work.
As you can imagine, dinner time can be a bit of a challenge which for me translates to pre-planning so I don't make myself crazy. Below are some time saving tips and shortcuts that make my life much easier and enable me to feed my family nutritious (mostly) meals:
- Do your big grocery shopping once a week. Be sure to stock up on meats, staples, snacks, etc. which will minimize having to make quick stops to the grocery store during mid-week.
- Put a piece of paper up on your refrigerator so that you have a place to write down something you have run out of. The hardest part of this is to teach your kids that when they empty something, they need to put it on the list. This minimizes you forgetting something when you do your shopping.
- Buy meat in bulk and separate it into dinner servings before freezing. It takes a little more time when you get home, but it will save you a lot of money in the long run.
- Marinade your meats before freezing. This is a big time saver. The kids really love Chicken Teriyaki over rice. What I do is cut my chicken breasts into thin strips and place them into a freezer bag. I then add the Teriyaki marinade and freeze. I take the chicken out of the freezer in the morning before I leave work. Just place it on a plate and as it defrosts, it continues to marinade. By the time you get home, all you need to do is stir fry the chicken, prepare some rice, veggies and a salad. Presto, a meal!
- When you are shopping, think easy to prepare. Save the complicated meals for the weekends when you aren't pressed for time. I know we would all like to stay away from pre-packaged foods, but when we are short for time, sometimes they are an answer. One of the things I love is Uncle Ben's Ready Rice. This cooks up in your microwave in 90 seconds. There are a variety of different flavors to choose from. While it's more expensive than buying normal rice, I can usually find it on sale at least once a month and I stock up on it at that time. Another thing I love (and so does my family) is the Ore-Ida Steam-N-Mash Potatoes. Real mashed potatoes are easy to make, but time consuming. This is an easy and quick way to make them so that you and your family can enjoy the taste of homemade mashed potatoes during the week.
- Prepare meals ahead of time when possible. Do all of your prep work the night before. That way, when you come home from work, all you need to do is put it all together and cook it. If a casserole is part of your menu, make it up the night before and put it in the refrigerator. When you come home, pop it in the oven, make up a salad or whatever you are having with it, and your dinner is complete. I do this a lot with things like lasagna, or even meatloaf.
- Do some cooking on the weekends to save time. For example, I may roast a whole chicken on the weekend. One night, I'll make chicken (I slice it), mashed potatoes and corn. Another night I might make fajitas. For the fajitas, I will cut up my bell peppers and onions the night before and put them in a baggie. Then all I need to do is throw them all together and cook.
- Cook double portions. This is one of my favorite time savers. Quite often, I'll make a large pot roast, complete with potatoes, carrots and onions in the crock pot. After dinner, I will separate the leftovers into freezer bags and now I have complete meals that only need to be heated up in the microwave for dinner. You can do this with so many things. When I make Rigatoni, or Lasagna, or a Mexican casserole, I will make two of them, and place one of them in the freezer to have on another night.
- Think crock pots. This is a lovely invention that allows you to prepare a meal the night before. Just put it in the refrigerator, and when you get up in the morning, take it out and turn it on. When you get home you have the advantage of having dinner ready, as well as the delicious, mouth watering aroma that meets you when you walk into the door. This is another great way to use double portions, especially when you make soups or stews. I love to make a big pot of chili and then freeze the remaining jars. When you leave for the morning to go to work, just take out a jar (or two) and let them defrost all day while you are at work.
- Subway night. Give yourself a break during the week. Thursday nights are Subway nights at our house. On the way home, I stop by Subway and get our sandwiches. That way, I don't have to worry about timing the meal. Everyone can eat whenever they want and I don't have to worry about clean up. It reduces the stress for me and gives the kids a big treat.
For this weekend’s Blog Blast, Parent Bloggers Network teamed up with Ore Ida to promote their new Steam ‘N Mash potatoes*. If you haven’t tried them yet, you really should. You won't regret it.
*See #5
Posted by Moogie at 8:43 AM | Comments (1)
October 11, 2008
Country Roads
This morning I drug my sorry body to the Urgicare Clinic because I had finally realized the whole sinus issue was not going to go away on its own, as it so often does. After waiting an inordinate amount of time (typical) I was seen by a wonderful doctor, who I really love when my doctor is not available (she does not work weekends). In the end I walked out with prescriptions, which, when added to the other daily medicine I take now, qualified me to open up my own drugstore.
Before I left to go to the doctors, Mr. Moogie, Chickie and I had agreed that we would meet somewhere for lunch when I was done. I called home to let them know I was through and we met at a little family diner that is popular for its home cooked, comfort food meals. It was wonderful.
After we were through, Mr. Moogie had some errands to run and I really just wanted to go home, take my meds and just rest for a while. I decided to take the back way, and it was really the best thing for me. The impending panic attack I felt dissipated as I let myself soak in my surroundings.
The road I took was a winding, rural (almost country) road, filled with trees and greenery beyond belief. Imagine going through a tunnel that was not made of cement, but of trees, with branches curved over the path to provide a tranquil setting in which all of your troubles fade into the background. Interspersed between the trees you will find broken down shacks mixed with trailers in all forms (some good, some on their last leg) as well as beautiful homes, complete with breathtaking landscape. There are several small churches nestled deep in the woods, most of them small. There are three rather large crosses, (right after the storage facility) in front of and old, yet well kept up mobile home. I always have a sense of peace when I pass that spot. Perhaps it's because I feel God's presence?
The route, while a bit farther than taking the normal way, does so much for my piece of mind. When I'm stressed, when I feel helpless or when I'm sick or just want to give up, this road brings everything back into perspective for me. Old, new, junk, beauty. All coexisting on one road.
There is a dilapidated building that sits on the corner that I need to turn down to continue my trek home. I want to take a picture of this building, but so far, I have not remembered to take my camera to capture the aura it represents. When I reach this building, it never fails to amaze me at how at peace I feel. It reminds me that I am going home. No matter how hard things are, I am going home. My home. My family.
Friends and family are what make life complete. No matter how hard things are in your life, there is always your family, and your home, no matter where that might be.
I guess it really is true. Home is where your heart is.
Posted by Moogie at 4:36 PM | Comments (1)
October 10, 2008
It's no skin off my teeth
I've always found it funny when kids use phrases ("sayings") with the incorrect words, or if they have no concept of the meaning. I'm not making fun of them, by any means, it just amuses me.
Take the saying above. I don't remember exactly what Meelie and I were talking about, but she popped up with "it's no skin off my teeth." The moment she said it, I knew it was wrong, but couldn't figure out the right words. We still use that phrase often and laugh every time. A few weeks ago we were down visiting my folks and we were all talking. Chickie popped up with "it's the principal." Meelie responded with "who's the principal?"
I remember when they were growing up, how they would mispronounce words and it was really hard to correct them because it was just so cute, and it was so hard not to laugh. Chickie would pronounce bathing suit as "begging soup." Meelie would refer to a trash can as a "crash can." When I was little, I used to call spaghetti, "pasgetti" and we still refer to it that way in my family.
What about you? Do you have any funny little phrases or words you would like to share? I'd love to hear them.
Posted by Moogie at 6:23 PM | Comments (1)
October 8, 2008
I has code in my node or it's Hell getting old
For the past week or so, I have been suffering from allergies. I know, I know, like who hasn't? My nose feels as though it's filled with cement, my ears are clogged (Eh? What did you say?) and my eyes are burning and watering. As my daughters love to say, every time I blow my nose, eye boogers pop out. I think the thing that bothers me most is the incessant, never ending cough. I do a lot of talking in my job, mainly on the phone. I'm generally ok, until I have to talk. I then I dive right in to a spasm of uncontrollable coughing that makes it's sound as though I'm hacking up a lung. And then some (you're welcome).
I'm am not the only one who is going through this. Folks at work are fighting it off, both of my girls have it. In fact, Meelie missed two days of school due to an ear infection, cough and general ickiness that comes along with it.
I guess I need to give it up and go to the doctor myself. I somehow have the sneaking suspicion that this won't go away by itself. Especially in light of the fact that I can't feel my face and my teeth feel as though they are going to fall out. Sinus infection anyone?
I have found that the older I get, the less my stomach can tolerate the antibiotics they give you to fight infections. Heck, my stomach can't tolerate a lot of the foods it used to be able to. I love hot and spicy things but now when I eat them, a towering inferno emerges from the depths of my stomach and explodes in my throat, causing me to eat Tums as if they are Sweet Tarts. I don't even want to think about what happens when that burrito I had for lunch finishes the end of it's trek down my digestive system. All that I can tell you is that my family informs me I am often heard screaming in the bathroom; "come on ice cream!" (you're welcome again)
Even though my intestines tell me something else, I still have my mind. Sort of. I'm not entirely sure but I think my short term memory may be going. If I were to be honest here, I believe all of my memory has gone of vacation to Hawaii and decided not to come back. I have lists. I have lists to keep track of my lists. I have seriously thought about buying stock in Post-It-Notes. I use them that much. I am a firm believer that having children destroys your brain cells. By the time I had my second child, they were all gone. Whoosh....just like a dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies you have cooling on the rack. You leave the room for one minute, and WHAM! They are gone. Just like that. Little midget terrorists come and swallow them whole, much like a vacuum cleaner sucks up a marble, only not as noisy.
I tell you this because I want you to know that even though I appear to be falling apart physically, even though mentally, my mind is slower than a golf cart? I couldn't be happier. I have a husband who is wonderful. Beyond my wildest dreams wonderful. I have two children that God decided to bless me with. Two children whom I was deemed not able to conceive. I have a mother and father who love me, who have always loved me, even when I screwed up big time. I have two older brothers who would and will protect me, no matter what and friends who rally around me just when I need it. I have it all. I am grateful. More than I can put into words.
What about you?
Posted by Moogie at 5:35 PM | Comments (2)
October 5, 2008
Clever
Hats off to the beautiful Allie for this one.
Posted by Moogie at 7:37 AM | Comments (2)
October 1, 2008
You know you are.....
You know you are a geek, or are married to a geek (that would be me) when the number of computers in your house exceeds the number of people living there.
On the gripping hand, when something breaks, my computer help desk is up close, personal, and right by my side. All he needs is some coffee or a beer. Depending on what time of the day it is.
PS: Remind me to tell you about MY. NEW. COMPUTER!!!! Make sure you remind me in the comments or with an email because my short term memory reaches no further that about 2 hours and 36 seconds, and that's stretching it.
Carry on.
Posted by Moogie at 6:46 AM | Comments (6)
