Snow, snow, snow!

Oh Norse Gods, spill upon us all thy fury
May the cold winds bless us
From your fortress in the sky
To our humble abodes
Snow down upon us the blessings of white
Bring joy to the hearts of children
And child within us all
Freeze the air to warm our hearts
Bring memories of simpler times

Oh, hail.

No wonder everyone I know is sick. The weather here yesterday went from the upper 50's to mid 30's in a matter of a couple hours and there were thunderstorms, rain, hail, sleet and snow flurries. All in one day! Is it global warming, is it a sign of the apocalypse? Maybe its just regular everyday Midwest weather. If it was anything, it was an adventure.
It seems Mother Nature has made up her mind, for a while. Today is to be cold, but sunny. Tomorrow, well, we will just have to wait and see.
Yesterday I was able to get some things accomplished though. I got two large pans of lasagna, five small meatloaves and 20 big meatballs made and frozen. A very small portion of this is going to the egg-donor for her recovery time from surgery next month. She said I promised to make her food to eat, but I don't remember it. Then again I don't remember a lot of what she does. Mainly because her memory is set in delusions and fantasies, while mine is set in reality. Its just easier to do the cooking than tell her she's a nut job. Especially since I'm making most of the food for us and giving her the skibbling left overs.
Tomorrow I think I will tackle the big pork loin in the fridge.

I got no sleep last night so what am I doing blogging? I figured I might as well do something other than try and get my son to take his nap. I find the winters here to be crippling. Not because of tons of snow, which I would love or ice, which I would hate but bitter, nasty cold. When you have a two year old who likes to be outside and wants to run amok and its too cold, there really isn't much of an energy outlet indoors. This makes for a very reluctant napper. Whereas, I would nap my life away if given the opportunity.
Hey, I think he is finally down! See ya, I'm off to Happy Nappy Land too.

Beans, glorious beans!

Tonight I made some awesome soup. Yup, I'm breaking my arm patting myself on the back. Just for those of you out there who would be interested (Dad), here's the recipe:

Steak & Bean Soup

1 bag Trader Joe's 17 Bean and Barley mix
1 can beef broth
4 cups water
1 tsp Tones Beef Soup Base
1 lb lean stew meat
Salt to taste

Soak beans over night. Drain and rinse. Add to crock pot along with broth, water and soup base. Set on low for the day. About 2 hours before dinner time, sear the meat and add to crock pot along with salt, if needed. Simmer on high for 2 hours.

The next time I make this I'm going to add carrot, celery and onion. I served tonight with grilled cheese sandwiches and salad. It was so yummy I thought Mike was going to start licking the bowl.

I also want to try this bean mix for ham & beans and my chicken chili recipe. Buying dry beans is A LOT cheaper than buying canned. Probably a lot healthier too. I plan on freezing the leftovers, if they survive the night.

Slacker Tracker

I really need to invent a wrist band that emits an alarm whenever the wearer (me) is slacking off. Yesterday I realized that I have been falling short on my household duties. I can't remember the last time I actually cooked dinner, or dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed the tub, etc. My dear, wonderful husband has taken on the brunt of the work and really never even complained about it. This is just one reason why I will keep him around forever.
I had planned on rectifying this today but around 4 am Gryffin woke me up with a fever and proceeded to cover my right arm in vomit. He woke this morning feeling better but is still pretty lethargic and clingy. Gryffin always takes precedence over housework- and everything else.

Just to hold me accountable, here is what next week will look like:
Monday: One load of laundry (folded AND put away) before play date.
Tuesday: Day Out for Gryffin and for me either a marathon freezer cooking session or scouring the nasty out of the house.
Wednesday: More laundry and play with Gryffin day.
Thursday: Day out for Gryffin and errands for me, grocery shopping, Sam's, but NO Target. It's a wonderfully designed and tempting hell for the bank account.
Friday: Maybe meet my friends for coffee in the big city and let the kids trash the joint like rock stars. Not really, but I'm pretty sure at one point in their lives they will form a band.
Saturday and Sunday: Work on the house next door and spend quality time with my boys.

Been awhile.

Yesterday I learned how to knit in the round from my dear friend, Robin. We are knitting preemie hats to be donated to a hospital in memory of one of her friends. As you can see, I'm on my third and find them enjoyable as well as frustrating. But hey, that keeps things interesting, right?

Stop the ride, I'm getting off!

Last night I felt well enough to go out for Chinese food with the boys. We even did a little tie shopping for Mike afterward. I was a little woozy by the time we got home but I will take any improvement.
My MIL was telling me last night that an associate of hers at the hospital is registered in this inner ear stuff. Apparently there are exercises you can do to make it go away. She is going to see if this friend of hers can take a look at me.
I gave myself until today to wallow in my dizziness. Now, its time to get sh*t done! I've fallen behind on the housework and laundry, there is grocery shopping and a Sam's run to make. I really want to pick up some fabric I liked for kitchen curtains.
On a different note: we were to have a Mardi Gras party but I think there have just been too many signs that it shouldn't happen, scheduling conflicts, illness, the price of cheap beads no longer being cheap, etc. I hate to disappont those of you who might have been looking forward to it but as you know, Mike and I throw parties on a regular basis so just consider it postponed. Maybe instead we will have a Valentine's Day Sucks party, or a President's Day Dress As Your Favorite Politician party, how about a Wino & Cheez Party?

From ditzy to dizzy in 6 seconds.

Monday was interesting. Play date was awesome as usual, the girls lifted my spirits and tended my wounds. While there I felt woozy and thought it was my blood sugar, no biggie I'm pretty used to that, But when we got home and I sat on the bed to talk to Mike while he changed clothes I was paralyzed by dizziness. Mike loaded Gryffin and I into the car and to the ER we went. Several hours of laying on a gurney that was as soft as concrete, having Xrays, CT's, EKG's and being used as pin cushion, the doctors couldn't find anything so they determined it was my inner ear. They gave me a prescription and sent me on my merry way.
I'm still dizzy but functionable, just don't ask me to drive you anywhere. Or stand up quickly, or walk fast or read small print.
I may try to knit today just because if I don't do something other than TV my brain might just shrivel up and ooze out my nose.

I don't really have much to say today. I'll keep it short:

• El loco is henceforth Albatross
• I've talked on the phone more this morning than all last week
• Playdate is today- I need to laugh
• Mike is awesome, he cleaned the house, caught up the laundry, took care of Gryffin and was supportive of me taking the afternoon and hitting the book store and Goodwill
• I scored 5 sweaters and a skirt for less than $20, I dig Goodwill
• Football season is almost over, when will I knit?
• Teen Titans theme song is cool until about the 348th time

That about does it.

So cute captions aren't needed!

Snap, crackle, pop

Yesterday while stretching I heard this pop followed by excruciating pain in my rib cage. I don't know what I did but I definitely don't want to ever do it again. It still hurts to where I can only breathe shallowly and lifting my arms is painful. Buck up little cowgirl, you've got a 2 year old to care for!
Yesterday I also came to the realization that Gryffin doesn't walk or run, he bounces. Everywhere, on anything, for no apparent reason. I think I birthed a Tigger. Maybe its just that he's a little boy and that's what little boys do. Or maybe he's a Superhero with not yet fully realized powers. If so, I'm calling him Bouncer the Trouncer.

Grrrowl, purrrrrrrrr & ring!

This is what you do with a few minutes, your husband's old swimming pin and some fun fur that Beqi gave me... a phone, credit card, lip gloss and cash holder (aka- my size purse)!

Gee thanks, Beqi. I guess now you want the rest of the scraps back, huh?

One girl's trash is another girl's trashy accessories!

Mean people suck.

Yesterday I changed up my template here and I was also going to add a cute little survey. Apparently the survey had a bunch of spyware tagged on to it that totally messed my stuff up. Who ever submitted that survey should be poked with hot skewers.
Today is the first day back at Day Out since before Christmas. Can I just say that I'm really looking forward to it. I'm thinking of stopping by the local coffee shop, taking advantage of the WiFi, the gift cards my Love put in my stocking and maybe even read or knit. Imagine, me knitting?!
Of course, I won't be able to spend the day there. The laundry monster has taken over our closet and I don't wish to fight him to get dressed anymore. He's big, ugly and a little stinky but I will slay him with my bare hands today!

70 degrees of separation

Around here we have a saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes." Just a week ago it was bitter cold, not long before that there was snow. Yesterday was in the mid sixties and today is supposed to hit 70! If it were going to be a nice 70 I wouldn't be complaining but its also set to storm. What good is a 70 degree day in January if you can't go out in it! Grrr. That's alright though, I'm sure by next week we will have a blizzard, a dust storm and a typhoon.

Today I'm hosting play date. Let the chaos ensue! There was a time not so long ago when any hint of chaos would send me scurrying into bed. I didn't like noise and kids made me nervous as hell. Now, after almost 3 years of being a mom, parents make me more skittish than their kids and after getting hearing aides noise isn't so scary since I can now tell what the noise is. I've discovered that since I can understand what people are saying I'm not terrified of socializing. I think I've created a monster because I'm also having a Mardi Gras party next month.

Saturday morning cartoons and Mediums...

It took Saturday morning cartoons and a show about Mediums to knit a pair of these fingerless gloves. If you are a knitter, please don't ask for the pattern as I didn't have one. I think I better come up with one though, Mike has requested a pair. I'm thinking of putting words across the knuckles of his like: Rock and Roll or Punk Rock or his favorite ST FU.

The gloves were made for a scarf I knit for one of my favorite people in the world. I hope she likes it- and gets it while its still cold.

Amazing how watching a little TV can be productive.

Knit and spit

As you all know, I've been bitten and smitten with the knitting phenomenon. In part because I have so many creative friends it makes me want to thank God and barf at the same time and also because my main creative outlet of stained glass is still impossible at the moment. Someday my studio will get moved over here. So far I've only knitted a few scarves but it makes TV watching, especially sports much more tolerable. And it makes me feel less guilty about it because even while I'm couch tatering I'm being productive.
I started a couple scarves for some loved ones who shall remain unnamed, but they probably know who they are, and realized that knitting at 1 am is not condusive to error free knitting. No matter how much Johnny Cash and The Clash are playing on the MP3. I've finished one, its a lovely grey/blue chenille, the other a burgundy with eyelash trim fur in burgundy, beige and a butter yellow is almost done.
My next endeavor is a three dimensional one. A hat, for me. Its going to be in a brown, cream and black yarn to go with a black coat that has brown collar and cuffs. I'm getting adventurous, look out. Me trying new things can only mean one thing... Curse Words Galore. Maybe that will be my Bond Girl name.

Common sense is not magic.

I am already sick of all the diet commercials on TV. Holy crap, if I see one more ad for some stupid exercise contraption or pill that will make me shed weight at the cost of my liver and heart I'm going to vomit.
I guess the saddest thing about the whole thing is that there are still people out there who believe in this stuff. America, there is no magic pill! Is society really this stupid or just this desperate? Maybe its a combination of both.
Before I up and start preaching I will shut my big pie hole and just leave it at this... healthy is not a definite size and nothing is worth more than a happy, healthy, love-filled life.

Happy New Year!

The New Year's party was awesome! Not just because Mike picked up Rockband and a PS3 for it or because we got to watch Robin sing while hopped up on sinus meds and wine or watch Eddie play drums like a robot but because we spent it together.
I'm not a believer in resolutions. When I've made them they lasted a couple weeks only to fall by the wayside and give me something to feel guilty about later. However, I will set some goals for myself in this bright, shiny new year.
Lets see, financially I want to get the house next door sold and be debt free again. Health wise I want to exercise at least three times a week and get back to the once a month limit on fast food. On the home front I want to keep up on the laundry and cleaning. I've been really lax in this the past few months, either out of illness, laziness or busyness. Personally I want to get back into my stained glass, become better at sewing and improve my knitting skills beyond just one dimensional scarves. There are other areas of concentration but they are a little too personal to share here so you'll just have to fill in the blanks.
I'm very lucky in the fact that I have a great life. Between my husband, my son, my dog, my friends and my family (well, most of them) I am blessed beyond measure. I intend to take this year to let my gratitude show.