Thursday, May 17, 2012

End of School

In honor of these last few days of school: 9 sack lunches, 8 volunteer pleas, 7 early bedtimes, 6 homework packets, 5 reading logs, 4 spelling tests, 3 calls from the nurse, 2 school assemblies ...and a backpack with unused school supplies.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Circle of Sarcasm

The funny thing about sarcasm is that it's only funny to the perpetrator. Sarcasm is another one of my fatal flaws. When I take a step back and think about it, it's probably an extension of my controlling and perfectionist tendencies. It's become a last resort and often times a way to dole out insults when I feel there's no other way to get my point across, which is similar to my potty mouth. I have a razor sharp tongue even when not swearing and I think it's genetic, because I can't name one person in my family who doesn't share it. Well maybe genetic is strong, but it's definitely learned. My family certainly doesn't appreciate it and I don't blame them. They notice the subtleties of an ill timed smile or the occasional maniacal laugh. MC was even brought to tears a few times on Mother's Day because he was worried that I wasn't having a good day. I assured him that I was, but he was skeptical because I kept saying "Happy Mother's Day" sarcastically. Honestly, they were driving me crazy bananas on Mother's Day. I asked them to just make it a normal day and they delivered. JB usually gets annoyed and the hubby just ignores me. I don't want this to become a learned behavior for them, so I guess it goes on my long laundry list of things to work on. Something always turns up when you take personal inventories!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Eat Breakfast

When you skip breakfast, you overeat at lunch time. When you overeat at lunch time, you get sleepy and take a long nap. When you take a long nap, you dream about being a superhero. When you dream of being a superhero, you oversleep and forget to pick up your kids from school. When you forget to pick your kids up from school, they have to go home with the neighbors. When they go home with the neighbors, they find out all the neighborhood secrets. When they find out the neighborhood secrets, you become paranoid about the neighbors knowing that you know their secrets. When you become paranoid about all of the secrets, you have a hard time falling asleep at night. When you have a hard time falling asleep at night, you're groggy in the morning. When you're groggy, you forget to eat breakfast. Don't worry yourself with other people's secrets….eat breakfast. *This didn't really happen, but it almost did.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Crafting

I guess all of those childhood summer days spent at Perry's and Fabric Carousel paid off. I remember looking on as my mom perused the huge pattern books. If I got lucky, she would call out the pattern numbers and I would pull the patterns from the cabinets. When I showed interest, she explained how to read the measurements on back. I inherited my mom's sewing machine years ago and took a crash course from a friend. It was very basic, but enough to get me started. I've toyed around with several small projects, so I decided to go for it and make an outfit. I knew that having a baby girl would bring that out. The goal was to get it finished before the church Easter egg hunt. In true mom fashion, I did; I finished the dress and bloomers the night before the hunt. I was proud of the end result, despite tons of mistakes. I found it was pretty easy to cover up the mistakes. Lessons learned for next time: don't use plaid seersucker fabric, pay close attention to body measurements to choose the right size, read ALL directions before beginning. Overall I'll have to say it was fun. It required me to use brain cells that rarely get used. I'll definitely do it again.
 
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My next crafting feat: Duct Tape wallets for Market Day. For Market Day, the kids worked with buddies to create storefronts for selling goods/services to classmates. They were given a list of suggested sale items. I proposed a few simple suggestions from the list and others that I thought were good ideas. Imagine my surprise when MC came home with the assignment. I think my exact words were: "What? Who the hell came up with that?!" I knew it wasn't something he could do alone, so I made a model and headed out to Hobby Lobby for designer Duct Tape (they make some pretty cool prints these days). For the next two weeks I worked feverishly to finish the wallets. I even Bedazzled a few with gems. MC helped measure out the tape and make a few small cuts with the Exacto knife, but I did the rest. Market Day was a success; He sold out quickly. When he came home with a few of his buddies' wallets, all I could say was......umm....duh..... Anal Annie struck again!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Cooking: I Live to Eat

Some people eat to live. Others live to eat. I'm definitely in the latter category. I don't think I have a disorder. I just genuinely love food-good food. I like the way it feels in my mouth. I like the way it makes me feel. Memories are connected to food. Emotions are connected to food. For me, eating is an experience. There are times when I'd rather not eat because I don't want to just go through the motions. I want it to be worth the experience. Lately I've been so tired and busy. My mental state can be reflected in our menus and my crafting schedule, or lack thereof. The more we eat out, the more out of it I am. Tacos/taco salad=tired. During weeks when I'm on top of the world our menu board features dishes like: eggrolls, chicken fried steak with homemade cream gravy, coconut shrimp with orange marmalade dipping sauce. This week I even tried a new grilled jerk chicken recipe. The marinade was so delicious and easy to make, I'll never buy it again. I was too busy licking my fingers to take pictures of that, but I managed to get a shot of the quiche florentine that I made one day for lunch. It was totally on a whim, but oh so yummy!
1 frozen pie shell, 5 eggs, 1 bunch of spinach (sauteed and drained), 1 1/2 c. mozzerella cheese, 1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese, splash of heavy cream, salt, pepper, 30 minutes in the oven=Deliciousness!
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This morning two of my neighbors stopped by for coffee. What better way to start the morning and the summer/berry season than with this Blueberry Buckle. The first time I made it I used a Martha Stewart recipe, but I eventually just adopted one from my Southern Living Cookbook. With 3/4 c. of butter and a pint of blueberries…this one's a winner!

Growing a Salad

FIRST GARDEN
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This year I attempted to grow a bigger selection of veggies. It's my first time planting an in-ground garden. I usually just stick to containers. I have to be honest--I cheat. I always buy the most mature plants in hopes of enjoying some of the initial benefits before killing them. In addition to herbs, I've planted lettuce (bib and a mesculun mix), okra, bell peppers, green beans, carrots and broccoli. The carrots and broccoli are not for newbies, but everything else is doing okay. It's time for me to stake the green beans, otherwise they're going to get out of control! I can already see buds, so we'll be harvesting them soon. I also have cherry tomatoes growing in a nearby container. It's doing quite well. I must admit growing a salad is pretty cool. The boys are even more excited about eating the results. Well excited is a bit strong, but there definitely more open to it and that's a start.

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