Be Nice

So about a week before Christmas my husband and I arranged for his parents to watch our 18 month old so we could go to our local chamber of commerce holiday mixer, and do some Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart(our shopping options are limited here in our rural NY town of 2,000).

It was the first time we had planned to do something together in a LONG time. I was looking forward to this night for weeks! Now I have a tendency to put high expectations on things I look forward to, and when things don’t go as planned, my. world. has. ended. The night didn’t go as planned. The mixer was a bust, they held it on the third floor of a 100 year old building with one freight elevator and no heat in the building. We got to Wal-Mart, only to find my husband lost the list, HE LOST THE LIST! My feet were killing me(being 8 months pregnant will do that). And to end the night was, Nick, our cashier at Wal-Mart. A smartass who thought it would be funny to tell jokes about my attitude in front of me, to my husband, and then call me out on a look I gave him. He also challenged me and asked me if we “needed to talk about this” UGH! The nerve! Well, my night ended with me and tears and black streaks of mascara running down my face on the way home.

So here’s my letter to Nick:


Dear Nick,

You’re not funny and should be nicer to pregnant women.

Sincerely,

The Pregnant Lady who didn't deserve being badgered by you, and could care less about your existence, so next time just shut your mouth when you bag my freakin' groceries.

This has been a part of Mama Kat's writer's workshop.

Some friends

HONK!!!! HONK!!!

“What the hell?” I shout as I look in my rear-view mirror and see this guy waving at me. Straining to see if I recognize him, I decide to ignore him, turn up the music, and sing:

“Say my name, say my name If no one is around you, say "baby I love you" If you ain't runnin' game Say my name, say my name”

I am heading north up the 405 in heavy traffic on my way to my friend Crystal, and her fiance Tom’s apartment, for dinner. Almost to my exit in Costa Mesa I feel a sudden jerk of the wheel.

“Oh crap!”

Cars are zipping past me as my Grand Am starts slowing down. I check my mirrors and see an opportunity to make my way to the right shoulder. The right rear side of my car starts making a loud thumping sound. Flat Tire.

Coming to a halt on the right shoulder, I start trying to figure out; what do I do now? Then it hits me, Crystal’s fiance owns a small rental car company, surely he can come help me with the flat, and I am less than a mile from their apartment.

I pull out my cell phone and dial their number….ring, ring….

Crystal: “hello”
Me: “Hey, I just had a flat tire on the 405, do you think Tom can come help me with it?”

Crystal: “Oh, no…uh, I dunno. Let me ask”
Cars whiz past as she places her hand over the receiver, in muffled tones she asks Tom what he wants to do, I can’t make out his answer.

Crystal: “Tom says just have it towed somewhere”
Me: “but I don’t have AAA, or any money, can’t he come and change the tire, I am right at the exit to your house”

Crystal: “he said it would just be easier to tow it so you can take it to Sears and get a new tire”

Me: “I don’t even know who to call to have it towed though!”

Crystal: “Tom can give you a number of a tow company they use for the rental cars, let me call you back and I’ll get you the number”

Crystal hangs up the phone and I burst into tears. Why is this happening to me!? I hate California, I can’t rely on anyone here. Then I look in my rear view mirror and see a white Honda Civic pull up behind me, one of those lowered ones with tinted windows and a rear spoiler. A Hispanic man exits, he’s short with big tattooed arms, he walks over to my passenger window and motions for me to roll it down, I comply.

Him: “Hey, you got a flat tire"

I answer, but try not to make eye-contact.

Me: “yea, I know”

Him: “well, do you have someone coming to help you? Like AAA?”
Me: “My friend is calling a tow truck for me”

Him: “do you have a spare? ‘Cause if you do then I can change it for you”

I look at him, trying to decide if it’s a good idea or not to trust this man with changing my tire and basically my life on the side of the freeway. He seemed to have good intentions…do I trust him? I’ve heard a lot of stories of people getting roadside assistance from a passerby that robbed them….oh what to do!?

Me:“Uh, sure-ok”

I pop the trunk and he heads to the back and starts going to work on the tire. About ten minutes later he comes to the window and says, "You're all done, you're good to go"

Me: “Thank You, I really appreciate that”

He starts to walk away, and I call out to him “Hey, what’s your name?”
“Angel” he answers.

I sit back in my seat and watch him get back into his white car, he cautiously enters back into traffic and drives away. Wow, I thought…I just met my guardian angel.

My cell phone rings, it flashes Crystal’s phone number, I answer:

Me: “hello?”
Crystal: “hey, Tom found the number, he said get the car towed to Sears. We'll save some dinner for you”
Me: “Thanks but I don’t need the number, I am already on my way to your house, I’ll explain when I get there”

A complete stranger, my Angel, came and helped me that day. My “friends” didn’t want to be inconvenienced. That was ten years ago, at the time I was 21 and living in California, I had no family to call on, and I had relied on my “friends” for everything. Some friends they turned out to be.

This has been a part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop Also this week she's helping host an online auction for some great causes, check out the auctions and place a few bids!!

Merry SITSmas!!!!

Time to celebrate SITSmas!!! This year my little elf below would like to wish you all a Merry SITSmas!

Baby Girl wishes you all a Merry SITSmas!!!

P.S. Check out the giveaway below!! Could make a great Christmas present for someone you know!

Giveaway for the Fisherman in your life!

I am blogging about this because the company in question, Summit to Stream Adventures, is near and dear to my heart...OK, so I own it with my husband, and we could really use some blogger and twitter followers. So if you want to enter a fun giveaway, (think Christmas gift here), then go vote for your Catch of the Year!

Dear Santa,

Happy Holidays…oh wait, I guess I don’t have to be politically correct with you, since you are Father Christmas. So MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! It’s so nice to be able to say that to someone and not worry about offending said person. I mean there is no confusion with you right? You’re all about Christmas! Unless you’re coming during Kwanzaa now and I missed the memo.

So since we’re on this politically correct business, let’s talk about the environment. You’re a notable figurehead, what are you doing for your part? How green are you? Are you making any efforts to be greener? How does the North Pole look these days? Are things a bit watery? What is your contingency plan for when the polar ice caps melt completely? You could relocate to the Yukon Territory. The Yukon seems like a pretty neutral place. Really how sustainable is the North Pole? Don’t you think you could be doing more damage there than good?

A few more things to think about: I’d like you to seriously consider organic milk, with all the growth hormones in regular milk, I don’t think it’s doing your body any good. For my part I’ll leave you some organic cookies I got from Trader Joes, hope you like them. Now I know my friends at PETA have probably contacted you about your use of eight tiny reindeer to haul your sleigh full of presents around the world. I think we can come up with a plan that will benefit everyone involved. Have you ever thought of teleporting? I think it could be advantageous to you, and you’d be done so much faster! Think about it, we don’t want to piss PETA off. Oh, and you might want to think about adopting a polar bear.

So, to surmise: go green Santa, eat better, and treat animals with kindness.

Merry Christmas!

Your Friend,

Mama the Chef

p.s. don’t forget my Net Book

p.p.s. Put Lucky Charms in my stocking please, been craving those this pregnancy

p.p.p.s. DVD copy of An Inconvenient Truth(not really)

p.p.p.p.s I've always wanted to have a sugar glider, I’d name it Moe.

This has been part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

Corn Dip, so yummy!

Warning!!!
This is so good you will want to eat it all!

Corn Dip
3 cups of corn-I use one bag of frozen
1/4 cup green onion
1/2 cup yellow onion
1/2 cup red bell pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic
1 jalapeno
2 cups of cheese
1 cup of Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
pinch of pepper
pinch of salt

Chop all the veggies. Saute the corn in 1 tablespoon of the butter until it browns a little, add salt and pepper, cooking about 4-5 minutes. Set corn aside in a large bowl so you can cook the veggies. Melt remaining butter, and add yellow onion, garlic, and red pepper, saute until soft. Add green onion and jalapeno and saute until soft. Remove veggies from heat and add to corn. Add mayo and 1 3/4 cups of the cheese. Mix the corn, veggies, cheese, and mayo together, adding the cayenne pepper. Place the mixture in a baking dish top with remaining cheese. Put in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips...take to a potluck, serve at a party, it's sure to be a BIG hit. I made it as an appetizer for Thanksgiving and everyone LOVED it!

I Just Knew

The prompt I chose this week for Mama Kat's writers workshop:

4.) Write a story in exactly 101 words...so here goes...

He made us a fire on the shore of the lake; we enjoyed a simple dessert of vanilla ice cream topped with fresh blueberries. We finished our dessert and walked to the end of the dock. Together we sat, letting our legs dangle over the edge, talking and watching the fish swim beneath our feet. Once the June sun set, we laid on our backs gazing at the stars and the moon, pointing out the satellites floating through space. Hours later, he held my hand and walked me to my car. We said good-bye, kissed our first kiss, and I knew.

Awards!?

Holly over at 504 Main passed this blog award on to me, and as part of accepting the award I get to list 10 random facts about me...

So here goes:

1 I love Journey
2. I ran the Army 10 Miler in 2005
3. I have lived in 6 states: WA, VA, KS, CA, GA, and NY-in that order
4. I love the way books smell
5. I've probably read Flowers in the Attic more than any other book
6. I hate stepping in water with socks on
7. I was adopted by my Dad
8. I have been to 41 states and 10 countries
9. I love to cook-duh!
10. I only ever want to be self-employed

I have to admit when she left me a comment that she had something for me on her blog, I got all excited thinking I had won her giveaway! Even though I didn't get the stamper, I still came out a winner!

I don't really have anyone to give this award to...yet. I am new to the blogosphere, so I am going to hang onto it a bit before I pass it on.

really really! no really!

When I was thirteen I lived with my Dad. My parents were still “married” but my mom was living in another state attending law school. At thirteen, I thought it was just that, it never entered my mind that my parents were actually separated and didn’t tell me. So my mother wouldn’t lose touch with me, she bought us both journals. We traded journals whenever we saw each other, about once a month. We both wrote in our journals every night before bed. Once we traded journals we could go back and read what the other person had been writing. It’s strange thinking back on that time in my life. My mom was only 2 years older than I am now. At 30 I know the truth and the circumstances behind my parents divorce, and it gives me a whole new perspective. At any rate, I don’t know what ever became of those journals, maybe my mom still has them, or maybe I threw them out. If I were to open one of those journals today I think the entry would read something like this:

Sometime in 1992…
Hi Mom,
I wish that you didn’t have to go back to law school this week. I really really really miss you! It was really nice having you here this weekend. I know you said it would only be three years, but I just can’t wait for it to be over! I really don’t like my math teacher, he is so boring, it’s even worse that he’s my homeroom teacher too. I really think that I wouldn’t mind living with you, I think it could be fun trying a new school, but I guess I understand why I have to live here. I really can’t wait to see you again, only 26 more days until you visit again. Well that’s all for tonight, I am tired I guess, I’ll write more tomorrow. Marbles says “meow”

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo, ME

This has been a part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

I Made a Cake

I have been looking(still looking BTW)for ways to fulfill my time outside of being a WAHM. Working from home can be very isolating. I stay home all day with my son, I then go to work from 6-midnight, sleep, and repeat...it doesn't leave much room for social interaction outside of Nick Jr, and Very Hungry Caterpillars. So about a year ago I enrolled in some cake decorating classes through Micheal's.


In the first class they started out teaching us how to make frosting, YUM! We got a discount on decorating supplies, so I bought all sorts! It was fun, and I was excited.


The second class we brought a frosted cake to class so we could learn some actual decorating techniques. Not to be boastful or braggy, but mine was the smoothest buttercream frosted cake there. I don't know what some people were using to frost their cakes, a sledgehammer perhaps?

The third class we learned how to write on our cakes, make flowers and a few other cutsie tricks...the classes continued and I stuck with them for about 6 weeks. Then I decided, I don't need classes anymore. I think I'll go at it on my own now. Not long after, feeling like I knew it all(step aside Duff) I offered to make my niece her birthday cake. I told her no holds barred, anything she wanted, she could have. Turns out she wanted a two tiered fondant cake. The one thing I didn't know how to do...decorate with fondant. I never made it to that course!! Now what?


Well I did a lot of googling, and watched a lot of You Tube videos. I practiced two weeks before her party, on my husbands birthday. My first fondant cake, to my relief, wasn't a disaster! I was able to deliver on my promise, and my niece, she got her 2 tiered fondant cake.


I have since not promised or offered to make a cake for anyone. Outside of making my children's cakes, my cake decorating days are over. It's not something I particularly enjoy, it's just something I know how to do. One of these days I will find a hobby I can be passionate about, and I'll stick with it.


For now...I present to you, the Fondant Cake!!

My DIY fondant cake, a Twilight inspired cake, for my niece's Twilight themed 12th birthday party.

This is part of DIY day at A Soft Place to Land. Head on over and check out all the other great projects!

And it's also part of Mama Kat's Writers Workshop, head on over and read the other great entries.

Bedtime Conversations

My husband and I are getting into bed, and having one of those night time chats before we fall asleep. Well really, I am chatting away with him while he tries to gently let me know that talk time is over and now it's sleep time. I decided to thwart his attempts and I came up with a fun game...

Me: "Honey, if you could have any other name in the world, what would it be?"
Him: "I don't know"

Me: "Come on, any name...what would it be?!"
Him: "My name is fine"

Me: "Ugh, forget it, you never want to play my little games...in the car, or anywhere. No one does"

I then shuffle my pregnant belly and the covers, and turn over in a huff.

Him: "What games are you talking about, and who else plays them?"
Me: "DOESN'T play them" I correct. "You don't play them, my mom doesn't play them, anytime we're on a long drive I try to have fun and come up with fun little games...like my 'Guess the State' Game, but anyway forget it. I am thirsty, can you get me some water?"

My wonderful husband turns on the light, gets out of bed, and gets my water for me. Then he turns off the light and lays back down.

Him: "If you were a radial tire, what kind of tire would you be?"
Me: "Shut up, just go to bed"
Him: "No really, what kind? Studded, high performance, all weather?"

UGH, my husband, the smartass.

Love this dish!

Stuffed Green Peppers

4 Green Peppers

1 lb ground beef

Small Onion

1 cup minute rice-I use brown minute rice

1 can tomato soup

Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper to taste

Core and clean peppers. I start off by parboiling my peppers for a few minutes, this way when they are done baking the peppers are soft. Place peppers in a 9 x 13 baking dish.Cut onion into small 1/4 inch chunks. Combine onion and ground beef and brown beef over medium high heat. Drain excess grease. Combine rice, meat, onions and tomato soup. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and flavor to taste. Fill peppers with meat mixture. If you have leftover meat mixture, shape into meatballs and cook alongside the peppers. Cover the peppers with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350. Remove from oven, uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

* Since I always seem to have an open can of marinara sauce in the fridge, I also add a little sauce if the meat mixture seems dry, and it gives it just a little more flavor

Why Can't He Sleep?

No, not my son, he's a great sleeper, he takes after me. Why can't my husband sleep? Well...let us delve into 10 reasons why:

10. He has a lot on his mind, and he's thinking of the different flies he can tie on his fly rod to catch the big one.

9. He's enviously watching me fall asleep less than 2 minutes after my head hits the pillow, and wondering how he could have married such an anomaly.

8. The crackle of the baby monitor and our son's quiet breath keep him up.

7. Pain, the pain in his arms, legs, hips and shoulder, now if he only had a wife who would lovingly massage these pains he might be able to sleep

6. He's too hot.

5. He's too cold.

4. He's re-living the chase and fight scenes from the action-adventure movie we watched before bed.

3. He's not sure, but he could be hungry

2. Our black cat is meowing blood curdling muuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrooooooooow's to be let outside and no one else(his sleeping wife) will get up to do anything about it.

1. His very pregnant wife is snoring, and if he does anything to stop it she'll wake up and bite his head off.

This has been my first entry as part of Mama Kat's writers workshop

oh the deception...

The only veggie my 18 month old will eat is a green bean. It's very aggravating, we have tried giving him other forms of veggies, but dousing his broccoli in cheese sauce just didn't seem like the best habit to get into. So I've been attending a family nutrition class put on by a local university and they've been giving us all sorts of good nutritional tid bits for feeding our little ones. We make the recipes at the class and then the kids taste test them for us afterward. During the class my son always eats everything! Which is great, but so far we've only done fruit, which isn't my problem!!

In the meantime several mothers in the class were talking about a book called Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld. I kind of paid attention, but not really. Then two of my friends, mentioned the same book after I told them about my finicky eater. After finding out our library doesn't carry the book, I headed to the bookstore to see if it was worth buying. I wanted to find out what this secret was to getting kids to eat and like nutritious foods. After perusing the book, I found out it's all about the purees. Very exciting, I will finally get good use out of my food processor that my husband gave me last Christmas!!! So I bought the book.

I already put the book to work and I made the Tortilla "Cigars"(pureed carrots, *pureed black beans, My son was so intrigued with what Mommy was making for dinner, that he came by stuck his fingers in the bowl of filling and taste tested it before it my son and said, you know you're eating carrots and black beans right? He responded with "MMMMM" The final product was also a success, and our son ate his veggies and didn't even know it. However, as he gets older I'll have to focus on getting him to make healthy food choices when the food can't always be "hidden" from him. Hopefully the rest of the recipes are just as easy and tasty :)

*I substituted the pureed squash in the actual recipe for pureed black beans since I have like 20 cans of them, and no squash :)

Dreams

Last night I had some wild dreams! Amazing, but wild! In my dream I fast-forwarded to February, and I dreamt that I was in the hospital having this baby. I got to see what our baby will look like, and our baby was beautiful!! It was a really exciting dream, a happy dream, especially because I didn't feel the pain from the c-section I'll have! If only that were true! My husband had interesting dreams too, but they were more shoot-em up/fighting dreams, probably because we watched Con Air last night.

Great for Fall

This is one of our favorites:

Pork Chops with Apple Chutney

4 boneless pork chops
Steak Seasoning
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 c. Chopped Apple
1 c. Chopped Yellow Onion
1/2 c. dried cranberries(crasins)
2 Tbsp. Butter

Rub the pork chops with the steak seasoning. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in frying pan, put seasoned chops in pan and sear on both sides approx 4 minutes or until cooked through. Remove Chops from pan and set aside on a warming plate in oven. Melt remaining butter in pan, saute onions in the butter. Once onions are soft add vinegar and brown sugar and apples. Stir cranberries into the mixture and let simmer approx 4 minutes. Remove chops from the oven, put in serving dish and top with chutney. Serve with Mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Mac-N-Cheese

So this morning I really didn't want to make dinner. Why should I be thinking about dinner when I still have breakfast and lunch to think about? Boxed Macaroni and Cheese, that's what I am doing...it's easy won't require any thought or effort, it's perfect! A few hours go by....I think "hey, I'll just add the left over ham slices from the corn chowder I made the other day...then it won't seem so half-assed, Cool!" a half hour goes by....hmmm...more thinking...."boxed macaroni and cheese really isn't that healthy, I should probably add some peas too!" Around 3:30 an epiphany occurs..."I'll make homemade macaroni and cheese with whole wheat pasta, ham slices, peas and a buttery crumble crust! Oh it will be so good, and easy!" At 4:40 the Macaroni and Cheese CASSEROLE comes out of the oven bubbly and smelling scrumtious! My husband ate half, my son had his first macaroni and cheese experience and I am thrilled that it wasn't from a box.

Macaroni and Cheese Casserole

2 c.raw whole wheat penne pasta

2 c. 1% milk 2 c. sharp shredded cheddar cheese

1 c. frozen peas

1/2 c. sliced or cubed ham

1 Tbsp. flour 4 Tbsp. butter

6-10 butter crackers(Ritz or any store brand will do)

salt and pepper to taste

Spray casserole dish with non stick spray. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in large saucepan, add flour to melted butter and whisk. Slowly add milk while whisking. Whisk until slightly thick and add 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese. Add pinch of salt and pepper. Meanwhile boil water and cook pasta until chewy. Strain water from pasta and put pasta in casserole dish. Top with peas, ham and cheese sauce. Mix thoroughly, add remaining cheese to top of pasta mix. Put crackers in a plastic bag and mash until crumbly, add crumbly mixture to top of casserole. Put in oven for 20-30 minutes. Take out of oven and let sit for 10 minutes to settle.

Half-Way Point

Today I am officially 20 weeks pregnant. 20 more weeks to go...yay.

Stark Reality #1

I am an emotional person...shocker I know. Well being pregnant only magnifies these emotions a thousand-fold. Even when I was pregnant the last time I don't remember commercials making me want to cry. Take for example; the preview for the new Sandra Bullock movie "Blindside"...gushing tears this morning. Other nonsensical commercials too, it makes me sick. I hate being this emotional. So word to the wise...unless you have a death wish; compliment me...tell me you love my cooking, you think I am a great mother and I am one hot momma. Please don't tell me I am getting fatter, and don't point out that my roots and gray hair are growing in (because you know I can't dye my hair). It will crush me, I promise. You may just be cracking a joke, but believe me, I am not in the mood.

Stark Reality #2

Oh, MY GOD...I am going to have another baby in 20 weeks. Holy crap...I don't know what I am going to do! Right now my son is very demanding, this is a very enjoyable stage, yet very difficult. I LOVE his accomplishments, he's started counting..."One, Two, One, Two, One, Two" It's so stinkin' cute! Or when he tries to sing his ABC's with me, I just love it! But you know what's not cute..the biting, the hitting, the tearing pillows off the couch, smacking my face when I ask for a kiss. It's rough, especially in my emotional state. Then there are the mornings when I want to enjoy my one cup of coffee and relax a moment, it is impossible because he wants to be entertained constantly. So I turn on Noggin...and inevitably I feel guilty that I've turned into one of those mom's who uses TV as a babysitter. What on earth am I going to do when there are two of these attention craving beings?

Now I know a lot of people with 2 or more children, and they all survived, they suffered these moments and are stronger for it. Don't get me wrong we'll be just fine. But right now, this moment, the one thing I desperately need, I cannot have: a HUGE glass of wine, with a big chunk of raw cookie dough...sigh...20 more weeks.

p.s. Sorry and thanks to my wonderful husband who puts up with me being pregnant, emotional, and irrational, I don't know where you get the strength to deal with me, but I love you so much for it!