A Wonderful Waste of Time

Don't you love it when you remember a great blog you haven't looked at for a long time and you get to look back through all the posts you've missed? Or when you discover a new one that's so great you just want to read through EVERYTHING?

It's happened to me a few times. Sadly, I'm not good at the whole "self-control" thing, and rather than reading a few entries a day until I'm caught up, I tend to park myself at the computer and just read until my eyes fall out of my head or the kids need me- whichever happens first.*

About a month ago it was finslippy- I'm not exaggerating when I say that I read every word of that blog over the span of about a week (I'm a fast reader- it's great for stuff like this, not so great when a $17.00 book only lasts 3 days). She made me laugh, she made me cry... it was wonderful. Now I just watch for updates on my blogroll over yonder ----->

Yesterday a dear friend and all-around wonderful person told me she's taking a cake decorating course. My first thought was, "Oooh, fun!" My second thought was, "I wonder if they get to eat their mistakes..." THEN I remembered to tell her about Cake Wrecks. I read through this one back in the summer and actually laughed out loud more times than I could count- it's pictures of and commentary on professionally decorated cakes gone horribly, horribly wrong. Oh, the HILARITY!

Seriously, go read Cake Wrecks right now if you haven't done so before.




*Please note, I don't neglect my kids so I can do this. I joke about it, but really, I just let them have some "independent play time"- it's good for them, and it keeps me sane(r).

Some Pics From Last Week... Fairly Random

Ike takes advantage of Simon's sleepiness and plays with Simon's 'Snicklefritz' while he's not looking.

One on the only two people in the world I don't resent for sleeping for a long time and/or peacefully.

I didn't get a cake on my birthday because we were out all day, so AJ bought me one 9 days later. Sweet!

Not actually sure how to caption this one, except to say that Gus is, in fact, a loser.

The happiest sandwich I've ever made by accident. Two shakes of the mustard bottle, one swirly squirt, look down, and oh! Look who's a happy, happy sammich! Not for long, I'm afraid...

When I Said I Wanted Warmer Weather, I Didn't Mean In My Freezer

Remember when I said that there was something rotten in the state of Kenmore? That there was this weird smell in my kitchen, blah, blah, blah? I think it's gone, but I have bigger rottage to worry about now- rottage and/or thawage (if either of those are words, I'll be very surprised).

My freezer isn't freezing. My frozen yogurt isn't frozen, but it's definitely not yogurt at this point, either- I'm choosing not to think too much about that one. The chicken breasts and pork chops I put in there yesterday aren't frozen yet, and everything else is thawing. Not good.

I've had theories about what might be wrong. None of them correct, mind you, but they were theories. I thought maybe things were warming up because Simon keeps leaving the fridge door open, so I used duct tape and felt to tie the door shut (it's lovely)- things still aren't cooling down. Cat hair in the coils? Nope. Perhaps not enough air flow around back of the fridge? Nah- that sucker's been pulled away from the wall all day, and I'm gettin' nuthin'. Temperature dial's backwards? Nope, the setting makes no difference.

I think the fridge is OK, but I'm not sure. If we're losing cheese, milk, lunch meat and leftovers along with whatever's getting cozy in the freezer, We shall not be amused.

So what to do? I could see if I can store some stuff in a friend's freezer, but the only person I know here is away in Puerto Alpaca or something- somewhere warm and sunny, anyway. I could cook up the meat that's in the freezer and keep it in the fridge, and we could just eat a whole lotta meat over the next few days- AJ would be happy with that option, anyway.

Or we could, you know, call a repairman. But that, my friend, would cost money. And until pay day (next Wednesday) comes around or the cheque for AJ's recent overtime comes in, it ain't happening. Not with the car payment coming out tomorrow and insurance and student loan coming out shortly thereafter.

But here's me looking on the bright side: I checked the freezer tonight to see if my magical pulling-things-away-from-walls powers had had any effect on relative coldness, and I discovered that the frozen scallops I'd bought with groceries had thawed. Can't have thawing seafood lying around, can we? So I ate them.* I ate them with melted butter, and it was delicious.

Any thoughts?**




*Please note: I did cook them first.

**On the freezer, not the scallops. Thank you.


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UPDATE: (next morning) Yeah, the fridge has definitely crapped out, too. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Like Talking to a Wall (-E)

(Out for supper, waiting for AJ to cme back from the car with Simon's WALL-E toy)

Me: Simon, do you want chicken, spaghetti, or pizza?

Simon: WALL-E?

Me: Yes, Daddy's gone to get your WALL-E. Do you want to eat chicken with fries, or spaghetti?

Simon: I want WALL-E.

Me: I understand that, my love, but what to you want to EAT?

Simon: WALL-E?

Me: You want to eat WALL-E?

Simon: Pweeeeease!

Me: CHICKEN or SPAGHETTI?

Simon: I. Want. My. WALL-EEEEEE.

Me: I'm ordering you the chicken and fries.

Simon: WALL-E.



(20 minutes later, after the kids' food has been ordered and the conversation has moved on):

Simon: I have chinken? Chinken and fwies?

Me: Holy delayed reactions, Sime-man!

Queen For A Day

So... my birthday. It was great.

When I woke up on Monday morning, it was freezing cold and pouring rain- not great if you're planning on driving for an hour on bumpy, twisty-turny, up-and-down roads. I decided it would be OK if we just spent the day at home; AJ had Tuesday off, too, so shopping could wait.

Yes, my big birthday event was shopping. I had no idea what to ask for this year for my birthday. I don't want to get much in the way of clothing until I lose a few more pounds of this "baby weight" (ha, ha!), and everything else I really want is too expensive- digital SLR camera... sewing machine...good scanner/printer... laptop computer... yeah.

The weather cleared up by the time AJ was out of bed, and after everyone was dressed (in spite of Simon's protests), we headed out. Simon fell asleep in the car, but Ike stayed awake- and, amazingly, didn't cry. He also didn't poop that day- I guess that was my present from him. So thoughtful, my baby!

We stopped at Value Village for a few minutes so I could pick up a few more 45's- I'm doing greeting card-related things with them. Shhh- don't tell!

Then on to the mall. I love just hanging out with all of my boys. We looked through the book store... um... ok, that's really the only store we did much in. It's not a great mall. Still, AJ managed to bash his head on one of the rides he was helping Simon into (he's got a nice lump now!), and he and I had a very mature discussion about why the heck the hair salon is called "The Head Shoppe." I mean, really, people! "I just need to sweep these hair clippings into this dustpan, but while I'm down here..."

Michael's was the big shopping stop. I could spend thousands of dollars on art/craft supplies in there any day- but I managed not to. Still between what AJ and the boys bought for me and what I got with birthday money from AJ's parents, I did quite well- paper, large square hole-punch, a book of quotations, double-sided tape, a 12x12" storage box... good stuff. Now I just need to find the time to use it all!

We headed to East Side Mario's at 5:30, and it was a wee bit crowded. Actually, a lot crowded- enough so that they opened up a little room in the back to seat us and a party of about 12 people. And so we waited. And waited... and waited. 20 minutes later, a waitress came in- for the other table. AJ spoke to the manager. It seems there was a "mix up"- basically, they had forgotten about us. The boys were very tired and hungry at this point, but they behaved themselves so nicely- Simon played with his stuffed Wall-E he'd brought along, and Ike chewed on the table (and the highchair... and my hairbrush...).

We got an apology, and the manager/owner put the kids' order in right away so that they'd get their food quickly. Our waiter came in a few minutes later and took our order. The kids' meals came (chicken buddies!), and we waited... and waited... and waited...

We ate our salad and bread. We ate what the kids didn't want of their meals- excellent fries, by the way. And then, at last...

We waited some more.

The kids were done eating. The waiter came back and told us it would just be a few more minutes. We asked for the cheque and to get our meals to go. So we got the cheque. And we waited. Etc.

We had our coats on and were ready to go when our food finally came. In case you're wondering, we didn't have to pay- not even for the extra kids' meal they'd accidentally sent to our table while we were waiting. We still left a tip for the waiter, of course- he was a good guy, really nice, and it wasn't his fault they FORGOT ABOUT ME ON MY BIRTHDAY! I may need therapy.

Quick stop at Wal-Mart = new book for me to read (My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picault- I'm almost done already), face wipes, and perogies, and then we headed home. The long drive can be kind of nice when the kids are asleep- it's really the only time when AJ and I have nothing to do but talk.

I didn't do any housework on my birthday. It was great- until Tuesday morning. Ugh. Sometimes these things come back to bite me in the ass.

Thanks, all my boys, for a great birthday!