Dates, shopping and sanity

Friday night Nick and I went out on a dinner date.  No kids, just us.  It was wonderful.  I didn't have to encourage anyone to eat, entertain anyone until the food came, or any of the million other things you have to do when you take kids out to eat.  The food was great, the atmosphere was interesting--we went to a steakhouse/bar that about 30 miles outside of town--and next time we go we are going to go a bit later so we can enjoy the band.

Saturday I went shopping with a friend.  To really go shopping we have to drive about an hour.  The roads were yucky at first but then things cleared up.  Here, you learn to deal with crap roads or you go no where from October to May.  I had fun bra shopping and poking around thrift stores and found some great stuff at TJ Maxx.  It helps a bit with the cabin fever.
Overall, this weekend was very good for my sanity.  I don't feel like the walls are closing in as tightly as they were before.

Bruiser loves to go for rides, Turbo like it too.

The "happy" family.

Of course, thinking about getting to do the outdoor stuff again helps a lot too.  The only sad thing is that it will be at least another two months before we can even think of going camping or doing anything outside.  Sigh.  Spring's coming, I know it is, it's just taking it own darn time to get here.

So what are you doing to keep the cabin fever at bay?

Confession is good for you

Confession time with Glamazon and Mamarazzi.  Grab the button, confess it all, feel better.


I confess:

• It's been 18 years since I met my husband.  The anniversary of our first date is tomorrow.
• I never thought a night at the movies would land me a great guy and result in two kids (eventually).
• We have only been official for 12 and half years.
• We got a lot of about time you did this at our wedding.
• I'm really looking forward to going shopping this weekend.
• Not that I really need anything, but shopping with friends is such fun.
• The only thing more fun is book shopping.
• I have mountains of laundry to do this weekend. 
• I'm going to try sorting and letting Nick change it for me. 
• We shall see how it goes.
• If he gets only a few loads done it will be a big help.
• I haven't let him in on this little plan yet. (but if he reads today, he now knows--Hi Hon!)
• He helped last time I did laundry--sorting and changing loads and keeping the dryer going.
• I'm sure he doesn't plan on making it a habit.
• In other news we have a new dryer--sort of. 
• Having Nick help will only work if we get the old dryer out and the new dryer in.
• Can you stand the excitement we live?
• It's snowing here.  Enough said.

So what do you have to confess?

 

Chugging

No, not chugging drinks, although that might help.  Just chugging along in life.  That is what it feels like I have been doing.  Just marking time.
Cabin fever, winter blahs, really just wanting to get the heck out of the house.  Work, home, the occasional trip to the grocery store, that about covers my life.  Mundane things that keep the house going--laundry, dishes, vacuuming, blah--it's just so dull.  Oh, I do get girls night out on Wednesdays, but even that feels routine right now.
Maybe the trip shopping this weekend will help.
Maybe spring cleaning will help.  It needs to be warmer--more like spring to do that though (nice bit of justification for procrastinating there.)
Maybe I just need to read a bit more--mostly to escape.  But that's hard too--Bruiser want my undivided attention when I'm home--book down, game pause, puter done!  All commands from the two year old.
Maybe I need a night out with my husband--a real date--no kids, someone else cooks, someone else does the dishes, there are no kids to encourage to eat, adult conversation.  Now that sounds lovely.
The weather needs to cooperate with this plan though.  We have snow in the forecast for the next couple of days.  Hope it lets us go out--the place we want to go is about 20 miles out of town.  Weather permitting, we are leaving the kids with the grandparents and going out for an adults only meal.
Maybe this will help with the blahs.  I can only hope.

Hodgepodge Time-Ketchup and Alarm Clocks

 Go see Joyce at From This Side of the Pond to answer your own Hodgepodge.
1. Did you know there is a National Day of pretty much everything in the universe? February 23 happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day...when was the last time you were inconvenienced?  Just this morning when Bruiser decided that 6:00am was a wonderful time to get up.  No, it's not--I need my time in the morning to get me going before I get everyone else going.

2. When a room in your house needs painting who does the job?  Nick hates to paint.  We both do the painting but I try to do the large areas--he helps with the areas I can't reach so well and trim work.

3. Are you friends with your cousins?  Not really.  There are not that many of my cousins that live close enough to be friends with and that I know well enough to be friends with.  We are closer to some of Nick's cousins.

4. Do you use an alarm clock? If yes-is it an actual alarm, music, or something else?  I have an alarm clock, but rarely use it.  My internal alarm clock works very well.  When I have to use the alarm clock I have it set to the local radio station.

5. What do you put ketchup on?  French fries, tater tots, and sometimes hash browns.  Oh, and hot dogs and hamburgers.  But not my eggs.  

 

6. What smells make you nostalgic?  Chlorine always makes me think of swim practice in high school--my one sport.  Frying hamburger makes me think of my mom making dinner when I was a kid. 

7. Have you heard about the high school English teacher recently suspended as a result of some things she wrote in her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn't mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.

What are your thoughts-If you're a parent is your child's teacher online and are you 'friend' or 'follower' there? If you're a teacher are you on facebook and do you accept or friend students on fb? How about their parents? If you're a student are you friends with your current or former teachers online? Do any of them have blogs you read? If you're a teacher or a parent do you ever use your blog as a place to vent your frustrations with our educational system? So much to discuss...  I keep the relationship with my kids teacher limited to school.  I'm not concerned about what she does on her own time.  Everyone needs to vent, but you do need to be aware of your audience.  I vented last year about some of our frustrations with Turbo's teacher, but I never named names and kept things relatively anonymous.

8. Insert your own random thought here.  I had a lovely visit with an old friend yesterday.  It was great fun catching up and meeting her husband.  Thanks for coming to visit Stacy and we are hoping to get down your way soon.

Random Thoughts on Tuesday

So time to random again.  Join Keely and get your random on!

Thoughts for this week:

• Why do appliances break on the weekend?  Our dryer has decided that actually getting hot is not necessary.  Makes it hard to dry clothes, but hey it still tumbles just fine.  Sigh.  Now we get a replacement, but it won't match the new washer (when the time comes to replace that.  And it's coming.)
• We got some great pictures of the boys yesterday.  When I get the CD, I'll share.
• I'm not sure why I want the washer and dryer to match--no one really sees them but us.  I mean it's not like you show off the washer and dryer.  A new refrigerator, sure, new stove sure, but not the washer and dryer.  Still some part of me wants them to match.
• Anybody got any good ideas for how to get rid of back acne?  My back thinks it's 15 all over again.
• Bruiser has fallen in love with the Backyardigans.  he calls them the Back Yards.  And he loves them.  There are worse things he could like *cough*Barney*cough*.
• I'm going shopping with some friends this weekend.  I'm so looking forward to it.
• What is it with M&Ms and little boys?  Bruiser is addicted.  Things can get ugly when he doesn't get his fix.  Collapse and cry on the floor ugly.  And he's only two.  We are in trouble.
  
• We got new tires on the car last Friday.  Yes we lead an exciting life--don't you want to be us?  On a happier note--I like the car a bit better now.

Now go forth and be random--and visit Keely--she's in computer exile right now, but she has other lovely people visiting that you can go see too.

Survived and Relaxed

Last Friday I had a presentation to give at work.  I survived it.  I actually did pretty good.  It was nice in that it was informal and there was lots of discussion with the other staff members present.  It helped me to not speed through it and do alright.
Thanks for all the good wishes.  They helped too.
For the rest of the weekend we had things pretty quiet.  Nick's folks came over for dinner on Saturday and on Sunday we watched funny westerns and did next to nothing.
Today My mom and I are taking the boys to get photos done.  Let's hope that Bruiser doesn't disolve into tears for these pictures.  We are taking a couple of favorite toys--Scooby Doo and Mickey Mouse.  keep your fingers crossed that the pictures come out well.
So nothing exciting here for right now but things are going to pick up for us--the next few weeks are busy with friends visiting and Spring Break coming up.  Yes, Spring Break happens early here.
So how was your weekend?  As exciting as ours?

Friday Confessions

Time to confess with Glamazon and Mamarazzi.  Time to get it all off your chest, if only for the next week.  It's sort of like going to the priest, but there is no penance involved here.




So, I confess:

• I'm super nervous.  
• I have to give a short presentation at work today.
• I hate getting up in front of everyone.
• I start talking to fast and then forget half of what I want to say--even with PowerPoint slides.
• I'm looking forward to Tuesday.
• An old friend is coming to visit.
• I confess I haven't vacuumed the living room in almost two weeks.
• I'm scared to sit on the floor. 
• The dust dinosaurs might get me.
• Or the cat/dog hair will.
• It's supposed to snow this weekend.
• I'm sort of looking forward to it.
• I have become the fun police at our house.
• It's just because I know someone is going to get hurt.
• Listening to laughter is fun.
• Listening to screams and crying, not so much.
• So I am the fun police--you know, to keep things from going to far.
• It doesn't always work.
• Little boys have already learned to ignore the voices of higher authority.

So, if you have something to get off your chest go see Glamazon and Mamarazzi.  They will listen and only snicker into their sleeves--not laugh in your face.

Bathtub Hairdos

Last week Turbo and Bruiser both needed baths, so I dumped them in together.  Turbo had fun playing with Bruiser.  Especially the hair.

Bathtub Fauxhawk.

Curly attempt at a fauxhawk.

 There were a few more hairstyles--horns and such, but Bruiser got tired of the game pretty quickly.  THey had fun for a while though.

Wednesday Hodgepodge and Biscuits

Hodgepodge time.  Go see Joyce at From this Side of the Pond.

1. Your favorite chocolate treat? I love dark chocolate turtles.  Dark chocolate, caramel and pecans--yum.

2. What more than anything else makes you feel loved?  Being given appreciation for the little things that I do everyday.  Just the other morning Nick said he admires me for all the little things I do in the mornings to get everyone up and ready for the day.  It meant a lot to hear him say it.

3. Cherries or blueberries?  Mostly blueberries.  nick hate cooked cherries, so we do blueberries most often, but I do love fresh cherries in the summer.

4. What is the one trait you most want the leader of your country to possess?  To follow through on promises, but be flexible when needed.  he also needs to show a strong position to foreign and domestic enemies.

5. Are you a saver or a spender?  I'm more of a spender, but I'd like to be a saver.  Books and clothes just call to me, but I'm not proud and will do used in a heartbeat.

6. If you gave a party for all of your friends would they already know each other?  Mostly.  I don't have a lot of friends and the ones I do tend to overlap a lot.

7. Are you interested in antiques?  I like the idea of antiques, but they aren't really practical with little boys in the house.

8. Insert your own random thought here.  Yesterday I posted about Stumbleupon and the biscuits I found that taste lots like the biscuits at a certain seafood restaurant.  I got lots of requests for the recipe. So here goes:

Cornmeal Cheddar Biscuits

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

1.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt.  cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.*  (I mixed all of this in a food processor, makes it go much faster.  then I poured the crumbly mixture into a bowl.)  Stir in cheese and milk just until moistened.

2.  drop by 1/4 cupfuls 2 in. apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm.

*Before mixing in the butter, I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon parsley.  If you really want them to be like the ones at that seafood restaurant drizzle with melted butter when they come out of the oven.

I've made these twice now and they are fabulous.

Yum, yum.

As for  Stumbleupon, click on the link and follow directions when you get there.  It's worth it.

Random Tuesday--Thinking thoughts...

...but not thinking too hard.  Go see Keely for more random.

And the thoughts this week are:

• We had a delicious seafood dinner last night--in front of the new fish we got for the boys.  I'm almost positive they didn't notice.
• I found a recipe for a cornmeal cheddar drop biscuit.  Add a bit of garlic and some dried parsley and they taste an awful lot like the biscuits at a very well known seafood restaurant. They are yummy.
• The cabin fever is rampant in our house.  We all want to get out.  However the usual means of escape for us won't be available until at least April, maybe May.  I so want to got find a new dirt road to bumble down in the truck or on the four wheeler.  Driving past the city limit sign is such a stress reliever.
• Currently there are no clothes or towels in the washer or dryer.  This is momentous.  I got everything done.  Folded and put away.  Nick helped sorting and keeping the dryer going, but I got it all folded and put away--even the towels.  Nyah-nyah I win.  I beat the laundry--for at least the next two weeks.
• I'm not going to mention the dishes.
• Or the fact that the living room needs vacuuming.
• But I did get the toilet cleaned--the one Turbo uses most.  
• I was able to go visit the used book store this weekend.  I got some new mysteries to read.  Sadly no romance, because they don't deal with romance at this store.  They have romances--but they stick them in regular fiction, sci/fi fantasy or mystery.  Romances are just not a section of their own.  They come off as a bit snobby about romances.  Maybe it's just me. 
• The more I think about it the more I want a Kindle.
• I love using Stumbleupon--thanks to Michele for showing me that one.

And that covers the random around here.  Go see other people's random, it's good clean fun.

Valentine Fish

We had a pretty good weekend.  Turbo played lots of vidoe games, Bruiser played with his toys, I won the war with the laundry (Nick helped--thanks hon!) and we got to celebrate a friends birthday with a meal out. 
But as far as the boys are concerned the best part of the weekend was getting new fish for the aquarium. 

These were the Valentine gift to them from us.  We went to the store and picked out ten new fish.

Five of these...

and five of these.

Bruiser is so proud of the fishes

Turbo likes to feed the fish.  He's pretty jazzed about the new fish, too.

So, Happy Valentines Day to all.  We are celebrating the new acquisitions by having seafood tonight at home with the boys.  How are you spending the most "romantic" day of the year?

Friday Confessions

Time to get it all off your chest and confess with Glamazon and Mamarazzi.


So, I confess:

• I will admit that I don't have a phone that will autocorrect. 
• Those phones scare me just a little bit.  
• OK, maybe a lot. 
• But then, Nick and I only got cell phones about three and a half years ago.  I needed one for the consulting work I was doing.  Yeah, we are way with it.
• My dishes are sitting in the sink right now.
• I'm ignoring the laughter procrastinating on doing them.
• They aren't going anywhere.
• The dish fairy hasn't found her/his way here yet.
• Same goes with the Laundry elves.  Stupid lost elves.
• They need to update the GPS I think.
• Valentine's Day doesn't mean what it used to.
• Now I'm just happy to spend time with the hubs after the kids are both safely tucked into bed, cause finding a baby sitter for a Monday night--so not happening.
• We are supposed to get to 40F this weekend.  
• It'll be balmy enough outside to sunbath.  
• At least it'll seem like it after the temps we have had.
• Except now all the snow will turn to ice.
• Lovely.

Now go confess it all and check out the other confessions.

Why?

Why is it that zits get lonely?  They can't come by themselves, they always bring their friends along.

Why is it that 2:30 am wants my company?  I always wake up about then.  I would rather sleep.

Why is it I can do all the dishes and then find three more I need to do?

Why is it Legos multiply in the dark?

Why is it the question of what to make for dinner can be so difficult to answer?

Why is it that small boys get more energy when you say it's time for bed?

Why is it that one night out with the girls can recharge my batteries so well?

Why am I asking why when I know that why questions will soon be tumbling from Bruiser's lips all the time?

Pour Your Heart Out--Hurting for Turbo

I'm joining in with Shell's Pour Your Heart Out today.  

A few weeks ago Turbo came to us and said he didn't like school so much.  We asked him why.  He had a hard time telling us.  We asked about his teacher--we had trouble with his teacher last year--but no, he loves his teacher this year.  We asked about his schoolwork, but he is doing OK with that.  We asked about his friends and that's when he said it.

"I never get picked first for games on the play ground, I always get picked last.  No one wants to play with me."

Oh, how my heart hurt for him.  This was his first experience with school yard rejection.  What do you do for a seven year old who just wants to be friends with everyone?  You can't go charging in and make it all better. 

Even if you want to.

We are pretty sure that he hasn't been bullied, just excluded.  And that hurts too.

Nick talked to him about things he can do to have fun with his friends and things he can do to be included.  It's tough for a seven year old to navigate the social ins and outs of the play ground.  And Nick and I are really just cheerleaders now, not so much active participants.  Turbo has to do this one for himself.

Turbo says things have been better.  He has been included more and is playing with his friends.  Of course being inside for recess makes the dynamics different.  And I can only hope that things continue to go well for him.  But oh, how I hurt for his tears and frustrations in being a kid.  And I know this is only the first of many of these kinds of things he will have hurt feelings over.  I just hope he continues to feel he can come to us and tell us about them.

RTT:Bits and peices

Random it up with Keely.  She of the great purple ham button.

Just some random junk:

• I really do agree that life is just too short for the wrong job.
• Two year olds bounce.  Thank goodness.
• I am beyond happy that Top Gear is back with new episodes on BBCAmerica.  It's a car geeky show, but then I live with guys and I have to take my entertainment where I can find it.
• Bruiser is nothing if not persistent.  If one request does not get him anything, he immediately moves on to the next request.  Getting rid of the Binkie is going to be horrible.
• Nick and I have gotten no end of laughs from the site Damn You Autocorrect.  Go check it out.  Very funny stuff.
• Thank goodness autocorrect is not a problem I have.
• Well we are headed back into the freezer.  Not as bad as last week but still cold, cold, cold.
• I made meatballs from scratch this weekend.  My first time.  They came out really good.  Now I just have to tackle meatloaf.  

And with that, I'm out of random for this week.  Go see Keely--she's got the random all wrapped up.

And then it happened

For the most part our weekend was normal.  We had snow off and on, we had cold temperatures, but nothing like last week.  I went grocery shopping.  We hung around indoors and were relatively lazy.  All was going well.

I had a friend over for the Superbowl game.  She is a Packers fan.  We are sort of Steelers fans.  We had fun sparring back and forth about who would win.  No bets were placed.  We had fun eating, hanging out in the family room in the basement, laughing at the commercials that were good and wondering about the commercials that weren't.  The boys were up and down the stairs a lot.  They were coming and visiting us and then going and playing in Turbo's room, which is up stairs.  Bruiser has gotten good and going down the stairs express, as we call it--on his stomach sliding down.  However he really wants to walk down the stairs like we do.

What happened last night was bound to happen.  At one point Bruiser and Turbo were coming back down stairs and Bruiser slipped and tumbled down about 10 steps.  We watched him tumble down the last four.  He's fine, nothing broken, just maybe bruised a bit.  It scared him more than anything else.  Scared the living snot out of both Nick and I.

But really, by the time Turbo was this age, he had already fallen down the steps twice--only about three or four steps, but still.  Bruiser hadn't yet.  Now he has.  I guess it's a rite of passage?  But oh so scary.  Thank goodness those stairs are carpeted in thick carpet.

And then to top it all off, the Steelers lost.  Not that I'm all that disappointed.  We have good friends who are Packers fans--they come from Wisconsin.  So congrats to the Packers.  Guess I need a Packers t-shirt now. 

So, how was your weekend?  Did you have fun watching the Superbowl?  Or did you avoid the whole mess and do something else entirely?

Friday Confessions

Glamazon and Mamarazzi are hosting Friday Confessions.  See the cute button?

So let's see what I have to get off my chest this week.

• There are days when I really feel it would be better if I just went back to bed.
• I don't understand why when boys play there is so much growling, howling, and shrieking involved.
• Bumping and the occasional thump I get.  
• Boys are just so noisy.
• It makes me nervous and I become the fun police.
• I'm working on finding my happy place when they get going, but I'm too afraid of the scream of pain that is inevitable.
• I confess that while I have some good fiction and mystery books at home in my to be read pile, I'm stuck on the trashy romances. 
• What?  They're a fun read.  
• I'm looking forward to the Superbowl. 
• I like the Steelers, but also like the Packers, so really I just hope the game is a good one to watch.
• And I really hope the commercials are better than last year.
• Cause really--I just watch for the commercials.  I don't know that much about football.
• We are having hot wings, a veggie tray, and what ever else Nick decides he wants.  Something appertizer like.  We like to munch through the game.

And with that I think I've gotten all I need to off my chest.  Have a great weekend!

Someone Close the Freezer Door!

We are slowly warming up here.  This morning it was only -6F.  WE set a new record low temp yesterday with a whopping -38F.  The last time it was that cold was back in the 80's.  Nick and Turbo had fun throwing boiling water in the air and watching it sublimate instantly.  If we had had bubble stuff we would ahve gone out and blew bubbles to watch them freeze.  Why, yes, we are geeks.

While we didn't get the snow that the rest of the country got, the cold air more than made up for it.  It has just been too damn cold.  There is snow predicted for this weekend for us, and more cold temps--thankfully not as cold as what we just had.

Did you know that if you leave bottled water to stand and get cold the water will stay liquid and only freeze if the bottle is bumped or dropped?  We did this and Turbo thought it was so cool the make the bottle instantly freeze while he watched.  Super cooled water is fun.  The geek thing again.

OK, everyone else stay warm and toasty.

Hodgepogde From the Deep Freeze

1. Would you rather be seen as a person who did their duty or forged their own path?  I'm a follow the rules kind of person, but there is no fun if you don't forge your own path every now and then.

2. This week's Wednesday Hodgepodge happens to fall on Groundhog's Day. In keeping with that theme, if you could have a do-over of any one day out of the last seven, which day would it be and why. If you haven't seen the movie Groundhog Day this question will make absolutely no sense but that's okay....you can answer anyway.  Of the last seven, I think I'd do over Saturday--It was my youngest's birthday and the day was a good one all around.  

3. Hot cocoa...yay or nay on the marshmallows?  I like marshmallows in my hot chocolate on occasion.  Peppermint schnapps is even better.

4. Do you wear makeup every day? What are the top two must haves in your daily makeup routine?  No, I don't wear makeup every day.  I have a hard time finding makeup that doesn't make me look orange or like the living dead so I just skip the whole thing.

5. Is it more important to you in a relationship to be loved or understood?  Being loved is essential, but without understanding the love is not going to last very long.

6. Parsley sage rosemary or thyme... your favorite?  I love thyme.  It goes with just about everything.

7. What do you do when you feel angry?  I shut down.  I get quiet and stew and rant to myself.  I'm not a confrontational kind of person.  I work through it on my own, mostly.

8. Insert your own random thought here.  We are at a frigid -29F  today.  hopefully we warm up and don't get that cold for a while again.  It's just to cold to function.   I thought I wanted to hibernate earlier this month--now I really want to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over my head--it's warmer there.

Randomy Random

Tuesday, yep.
Button, yep

Random, up next.
So here goes:

• Shopping with friends is way more fun than shopping alone.  Even if it's thrift store shopping.
• It is cold here.  Damn cold.  Like -23F.  Damn cold.
• We are staying home--cars were not liking the cold weather.
• However, the schools and the university are both in session today.  Denver closed their schools, government, and lots of other things due to the cold, and they are only -11F.  I guess we aren't as wimpy as they are.  
• You know there are just times when I am watching Bob the Builder and I wish Wendy and Bob would just get it on and get it over with.  Yes, I have watched those shows way too many times.
• Two years olds sure know how to bring the drama.  Bruiser dissolves into tears at the slightest no.  Great fun.
• And with that, I don't think I have anymore random--it's just too cold to think.

Go see Keely, she's got more Blissdom Random.  Lots jealous here--I had to stay home with sick people instead of spending time with other fabulous bloggers.