"If I were single/attached I would...."

Put the shoe on the other foot from where you are right now. Pretend you are either single or coupled up. What would you enjoy about your new life?

I would eat cereal and frozen dinners for more meals, and would thus probably lose some weight.

I would indulge in more craptacular tv.

7/7/07

Cottage cheese for a healthy afternoon snack.


I will be with Breezy on the lucky 7/7/07 day. What do you think will happen to us?

Weekend & Celeb gossip

A salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, and fresh, sliced mozzarella with a balsamic italian vinegarette.

I walked 14 miles on Saturday. I found a great bike/hike path to walk on for these long distances. It's about a 30 minute drive, but hooks up with the state park with the pool. :-) I realized about an hour into the walk that I should've eaten more than a bowl of cereal two hours before the walk. I found some ripe blackberries along the path, though, so all was good.

I seal coated the patio...that didn't go well. I have marks on it that will need to be sanded out. Sigh.

I went pea picking at our CSA farm. Anybody want some snap peas?

I'm loving A Thousand Splendid Suns. Has anyone else started it? I'm not very far, but am already engrossed.

My Celebrity Gossip: I think Playmate Kendra (one of Hef's girlfriends) is related to Bravie. They look a lot alike.

Alone

I am flying solo tonight. Chris is surprisingly heading to his brother's for some evening boating and morning fishing.

Maybe I'll bake tonight. Glow's suggestion of snickerdoodles was good. Wish I hadn't left my book at the pool or I'd read a lot tonight.

Tomorrow, I'm going for a 10 mile walk and then I'll hit the pool.

Wish I had a DVR of shows to watch tonight. :-) *waves at MTW* Maybe he'll invite me over.

Chips!

Fried mozzarella sticks today with marinara for dipping.

I'm at a loss on what to write today.

Let's talk about chips. What are your favorite kinds?

I bought a bag of Trader Joes Hawaiian Style Salt & Vinegar chips last week. I like them muchly. They aren't as thick as most kettle chips, but a little thicker and crispier than standard chips. I never used to like salt & vinegar chips, but found out a few years ago they are yummy.

I'm also a big fan of plain Ruffles and Dean's French Onion Dip.

Habanero Doritos are my favorite Dorito.

Sour Cream and Cheddar Baked Ruffles are yummy.

And is the Cheeto really a chip? I like em crunchy or puffy. *waves to puffy*

Well, I didn't cry

Nachos with cheddar and asadero for today's snacking.

Tuesday afternoon with my nephews was fine. I only had the older two (the youngest went to daycare with my sister). They were on great behavior. We went to Target and I was able to leave them alone to shop with no problems.

Wednesday was our busy day. They were already in a punchy mood when we left at 9:15 for Cave of the Mounds. They listened to my rules of "be quiet on the tour, listen to the guide, stay on the path." However, I forgot about the "do not touch the cave surfaces" rule the guide talks about. Nick has major tactile issues and was about crawling out of his skin not being able to touch & feel things. They shouted numerous nonsensical things during the tour, and that was frustrating for everyone. Nick started making fart noises with his hands. That was bad. Finally, the tour was over and we were in the gift shop. I told them they could get a bag of stones (they collect things like that) to share. CRASH! Nick broke an item (by accident). Sigh. They didn't make us buy it. I could tell he was upset about it. So we quickly bought our rocks and left.

Then it was off for our picnic. Dumb idea since the boys don't eat normal food. Brett only likes chicken nuggets, no sandwiches, nothing. So he brought cold pop tarts, which he won't eat the edges from. That was all he had. Nick wanted pb&j, with crusts off (well, he wanted "Uncrustables" but I refuse to buy those rip offs), and he ate exactly half of that. And one bite of an apple wedge.

The park had an outdoor pool that is REALLY nice. We went. Brett swam. Nick? Screamed and bellered constantly about the water being too cold to get in. Poor people kept having to walk away from him because he was just repeating phrases loudly at them. Sigh. I wanted to be able to wear a sign explaining his behaviors, but of course, I can't. I felt bad for him. But also iritated he wouldn't swim.

Anyway, at that point, I was pissed they didn't seem to like anything we did, and I was out $50 for the day. We packed up and went home (before I could even get in the pool. I was going to tan for 45 minutes & then swim.). The ride was pretty quiet, but suddenly Brett said "Thank you for taking us to Cave of the Mounds and stuff today." I melted. They didn't hate it.

Gearing up for kiddos

*snort* No, I'm not preggers. :-)

Have some cheesy broccoli and cauliflower today. I need some veggies.

This afternoon and tomorrow I'm watching the nephews. You remember them, the three troubled boys of my troubled, divorced sister? Wish me luck. These kids don't like anything we'd normally do with kids (movies, mini golf, bowling, etc), so I'm being creative.

We are going spelunking at Cave of the Mounds near Madison. It's a cave tour and you can do various childrens mining activities for stones. They are big collectors of rocks, marbles, and lots of actual junk, so I thought this would be good. Now, if I can keep them from wandering off the path and hanging from stalagtites, we'll be good.

As a carrot for their behavior, that afternoon we'll potentially go to the nearby state park that has a pool. It's apparently rarely busy during the week in the summer, and they've been complaining about the bullies at their city pool, so this should be a good thing for them. The park also has some cool trails and observation towers.

This afternoon we are just hanging out at their house and planning for tomorrow. Wish me luck.

I'm back and fancier than evah!

Brie wrapped in phyllo for you today.

It's good to be back at work. It was a long week away.

1. Why do so many children fly at night? My flight out was filled with kiddos. It didn't get into CA from the midwest until 11:30, so there were lots of grumpy children when they had to get up. The kid behind me kicked my seat the whole time. On the way home, I had a red eye flight and again, filled with kiddos. It was a full flight and I had mom, ~6 month old twins and a 2 year old boy in my aisle. The twins were great. The boy? Laid on his seat horizontally and kicked me the whole time in my thigh. I didn't have the heart to say something to mom with the two twins with her. After all, they were being great!

2. See's lollipops are great.

3. Bravie was guessed at 32 years old. That would STILL make me younger than her.

4. Chris and I helped shear sheep this weekend.

Baaaaahhhh.

I?

Am sitting on the top floor of the Virgin Megastore in downtown SF. I am at Citizen Cupcake enjoying a mocha cupcake and an iced latte while watching the city. This makes me happy.

Should I audition?

Cheeeeeesy pizza for all of you that were left out on sushi night. :-)

The Mountain Dew Street Ball tour is at our hotel. There are bunches of tour buses and limos and tall men with crazy afros. I didn't know such a tour existed, but apparently it does. http://www.mountaindew.com/sports/streetball/

I had a last minute dinner with Sharnina last night. She took me to an awesome brewpub in downtown Hayward. She was kind enough to pick me up and chauffer me to and fro. We ate the yummiest appetizers: giant jalepenoish peppers, stuffed with cheese and wrapped in phyllo. *homer simpson drool* We had beer samplers and Sharnina got so plowed that she was bumbling and crying into her thrid sample. Lightweight. After she gathered herself, we headed out for a lovely walk around downtown Hayward, which was cute. We finished off the evening with a drink from Starbucks. Perfection. *smooch* to Sharnina.

A new week

Grilled chicken sammiches with your choice of toppings, to include a slice of cheese.

My printer at home is effed up. I'm trying to print my boarding passes. I'm off this afternoon for a quick trip to CA for work. I'm flying in late tonight and leaving on the Thursday night/Friday morning red eye. I'm getting a bit sick of the long flight.

We had a really nice weekend. The sushi turned out great. Making the rice was hard work, but the rolls were delicious. Chris also made some yummy teriyaki chicken wings. My friend that lived in Japan ate his wings with chopstix. I was impressed.

We also went to the county dairy breakfast this weekend. It's a Wisconsin tradition. County farms in June host a gigantic dairy breakfast on different weekends. My county held theirs just a few minutes from our house. We ate a yummy breakfast (complete with frozen custard for dessert..hehe!) and played around on the farm. Wow do I still hate farm smells.

We then went north to visit some friends at their house. It was a ton of fun.

*yawn* I suppose I should pack up the computer and get myself together for the day.

Everybody take off your underpants.

Have some taco dip with lots of shredded cheddar.

Can it be underpantsless Friday?

Remember-sushi tonight-6:00.

*PBBBBBTHTHTBBB*

Ah, that's better.

Now where IS that tainted milk?

Work is such a bother.

Strawberry cheesecake today.

I'm eating fresh strawberries and peaches. Yum! I also had a white chocolate mocha in honor of Boo (ok, it was an iced mocha).

My day is seriously insane and my boss won't leave me alone. I was here at 7:15 hoping I'd get a ton done before she got here. She came in at 7:25. Lucky effing me.

I'm attempting to make sushi tomorrow night. Wish me luck.

Shopping!

Phyllo wrapped brie and herbs today.

I like shopping when I have a mission. Yesterday's missions? Walking shoes and Bath & Body Works.

Shoes
I went to a specialty store in Madison. They are mostly focused on running, but it was ok, they respected walkers, too. :-)

Apparently I don't pronate as much as I thought, so that was good. I tried on 12 pairs of shoes, and tried most of them out on the treadmill and sidewalk. The salesgirl was very patient. It came down to a pair of Women's Saucony ProGrid™ Triumph 4s or the Brooks Radius 6. Both felt good for very different reasons. The Brooks offered more support, but the Saucony offered more cushiony feelings. I was really undecided. I went with the cheaper Brooks. As the girl said, frankly, you can wear the best cushioned shoes on your walk and your feet will still hurt at the end of 60 miles. I decided not twisting and ankle was more important and the Brooks were also less bulky.

Bath and Body Works
*dreamy sigh* I power shopped and it was fun. Here were my grabs:
3 shower gels
2 creamy lotions
2 body butters
2 travel sized things
1 new scent trial size lotion
1 travel sized shower pouf (I've been dreaming of a smaller one and there it was for $1!)
4 packs of Wallflower refills

All for about $50. *dreamy sigh*

Grump Grump Grump Grump

Artichoke dip and bread, because it makes me feel better.

I feel like crawling into a hole today. Nothing really specific, just a series of small things weighing on my brain. It must be in the blogger water.

*grumps off*

Misery loves company. Anything make you grumpy today?

Blogger is working better...

Quesedillas for a mid-day snack!

Blogger is cooperating more these days. I can make new posts without jumping through hoops. Yay!

I love you guys. Just sayin'.

We sealed our garage floor this weekend with one of those Epoxy Shield kits. It was a ton of work to clean the garage out and then scrub the floor with the acid wash, but the "painting" was painless. I was the edger and color chip thrower. I felt like I was throwing rice at a wedding. :-) Pics to follow in the next day or two. Fascinating stuff, I know.

Serious post

Serious posts call for serious cheese. Warm brie with a pear compote and baguettes.

Babies. They are on my mind. A friend just gave birth last week to her first. Another friend is due with her second in a few weeks. MIL read Chris the riot act, telling him we are financially stable, have a large enough home and we are selfish if we don't allow her a grandchild. A grandchild is "her right."

Growing up, I always assumed I'd get married and have children. I never was around children that much when I began to get older. I was the youngest grandchild, and all the great grandchildren lived farther away or we just weren't close. I was also my parent's youngest child and all the family friends were past the age of having more children. I babysat sometimes for a job. I hated it. I liked the freedom of babysitting, but never was able to get into playing with the kids.

MIL is right, all the reasons we put off having kids in our early twenties are behind us now. However, we just went though a really rocky period and some mental health issues stemming from Chris's stressful job. Repairing our emotions and being really self aware of our behaviors have been our primary goal lately. It's not an easy, short path.

However, things ARE getting better. Maybe now WOULD be a good time to have children. But I still don't feel the desire. I like babies well enough. I never really get that yearning thing going on, but I do enjoy babies. It's the 1-8 year old phase I REALLY have trouble with. I DREAD spending more than a few days with children of this age. It's not the kids fault. I just have very little patience for things like squeeling, repeating things, nonsensical things and messy things. And it's not like I'm a stuffy prude. I just have some emotional issue with all that. By 9, it's usually getting to a point where I can find commonalities with kids and have a better relationship with them. Still not great, but better.

I've always thought maybe adoption would be good. And I have always thought controling children's behaviors (like those that bug me above) are easier when there is only one child. Chris was never in favor of either of those things and HE isn't feeling the need to have a child, either.

So I don't know. Maybe it's time to revisit all this with Chris. None of this would be entering my mind if MIL weren't so pushy about it. I understand HER yearning, but I'm not willing to do it just for her. THAT is selfish of her. I don't care if she spent half her life raising her children. That doesn't mean I have an obligation.

So this is what's seriously weighing on my mind right now. I don't know if I'm looking for advice or just wanted to get this out and organize my thoughts, but anything you have to say is appreciated. Just please try not to directly call me a selfish pig. Find nicer words.