You know how there have been a lot of bad earthquakes lately, a tsunami, and then that volcano in Iceland that just wont quit? Yeah, so if you wanted to think of this as like a natural disaster opening ceremonies then you would look down the line and see the the grand finale is the eruption of Yellowstone. How you seen the movie 2012?
Guess where we are hosting a family reunion this summer? YELLOWSTONE! Let's hope that if mother nature is going to provide a fireworks show that it's when we are there to see it! (or we have all boarded the ship that's moving us to the moon, not like we could survive it even if we are back home).
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I made homemade pop-tarts the other day, some with boysenberry jam and some with nutella, delicious.
And since I'm thinking about food, let me give you the best tomato soup recipe ever. Like, ever. I don't like chunks of cooked tomato in my chili or marinara sauce and I think the cream of tomato soups in a can are only OK but this soup totally changed all my ideas of what tomato soup can be. Please try it.
Slice several garlic cloves but not too small, I like being able to bite into my garlic, you will too. Cook the garlic in a little oil for a few minutes.
Peel and dice 8-10 plumb tomatoes (I think I ended up using Roma because we had plenty already and the grocery I went to doesn't have plumb tomatoes)
Simmer tomatoes (and garlic) in a good quality stock until they start to break down. Like 15-20 minutes.
In each bowl place a slice of day-old crusty french bread...or buy a baguette the day of and toast it because who buys bread and leaves it out all day? Your cat will jump up on the counter after you've gone to bed and get her cat germs all over it. Gross.
Crack an egg over each piece of bread.
This is when you are supposed to ladle the soup over the egg and put the bowl in the oven for 5 min at 400 but when I did that the first time I ended up microwaving the bowls for a few seconds because the egg whites didn't cook enough and everyone was grossed out. Sooooooooo, I put the egg and bread in the oven first so that I could watch them better, until the whites have just set, and then ladle the soup over them.
Top with chopped parsley.
I have some parsley growing in my little garden. I mean, I have a parsley MONSTER growing. I planted some last year and didn't even expect it to grow because that was the soil that Josephine decided to "help" me with and scooped it up and plopped it into the basil pot... I scooped it out, the parsley flourished, the basil never grew. This year the parsley came back pretty early, it's gone through some snow and freezing nights but it has persevered. The last time I went to cut some I decided to cut it back before it took over the rest of my herbs and I cut through stalks that were as big around as a quarter. Yeesh.
Anyway, the leftover soup is great alone too but the bread really makes it so toss in some croutons or something, because you at the rest of the baguette loaf before the dishes were even cleared from the table.
4.12.2010
A Love Story
Josephine totally loves me, I know, but lately there has been a new leading lady in her life.
Billie Jean, named for the Michael Jackson song, not the tennis player, is my brother's pit bull puppy and Josephine's BFF.
My brother got the puppy as the result of a recent break-up so he didn't have any plan as to what to do with her when he leaves for work so we are watching her until he figures something else out. He's brought her over several times before when he came for Sunday dinner and every time Josephine's heart nearly exploded with joy.
The days Billie is not here Josephine pretends to call her on my old cell phones all day.
These pictures are all from a few weeks ago but the love is still the same.
Billie Jean, named for the Michael Jackson song, not the tennis player, is my brother's pit bull puppy and Josephine's BFF.
My brother got the puppy as the result of a recent break-up so he didn't have any plan as to what to do with her when he leaves for work so we are watching her until he figures something else out. He's brought her over several times before when he came for Sunday dinner and every time Josephine's heart nearly exploded with joy.
The days Billie is not here Josephine pretends to call her on my old cell phones all day.
Snowball fight!
She's trying to roll her over.
Josephine's hair can get pretty out-of-control.
3.09.2010
i have some dessert and update my shit-list
Lots to catch up on eh? Let's get this going.
Remember the Superbowl? Way back then...well, I have no comment on the game. We had it on and my dad watched it but the rest of us just went on with our day like any other sunday. Just before the game started we were all in the kitchen when someone walked in the front door. Usually when someone lets themselves in it's my brother visiting or maybe my sister parked in the driveway instead of the garage. Out of habit someone yelled "YAY" when we heard the door open but when the guest walked around the corner we saw it was an old man. An old man that we've never seen before. But he had wine so we welcomed him. It tookabout 5 seconds for him to notice he was in the wrong house. Oops. It's ok though, we had plenty of beer in the fridge.
I made the most delicious cupcakes a long while ago. S'more cupcakes. I ate most of them myself, like two or three a day. I couldn't help it! They were easy too, here is the recipe I used: KAPOW! Just spend 5 minutes on that blog's archives and then go find your apron. You will be a hero.
Now, a few years ago this house had a semi-private back yard. But in the last two years where there used to be trees there are now houses. Houses so close that when the trees in our yard are bare (as they are now) you can see everything that goes on in the other houses if the blinds are up. We can hear everything that goes on when they are in thier back yard because it is no different than if they were in our yard.
This is going somewhere, I promise.
One of these newly super-close neighbors hadn't been home all winter, or so I thought. I hadn't seen or heard anything from that house since last summer when we heard them moving in, with two little kids running around. We never got the chance to meet them.
So back to naked Josephine. After stripping down she opens the back door to let the cat out. I call to her to hurry up and close the door since it's so cold out. She is two. She steps out onto the porch and shakes her butt. I grabbed my camera and get a 20 sec video of her assuring me it isn't cold out and then jumping back into the house because her toes are cold. There was no snow on the porch. She never took more than one step away from the house. The door never closed behind her. I'd show you the video to prove that she wasn't out there more than 30 seconds tops but, she's naked and this is the internet...so, no. I tell you all this because about 4 hours later the cops stop by to let me know a concerned neighbor called to report a naked baby in the back yard. He tells me it was the mystery neighbor house that I thought was empty.
So many things wrong with this.
Why didn't they come over themselves if they thought Joey had let herself out without my knowing?
They must have told the police that she was safely back in the house or else it wouldn't have taken 4 hours for them to come check-up on me.
I still haven't see any movement from that house, I guess I can't be 100% certain that the cop pointed to the right house. Or maybe they just don't like playing outside.
I am mostly calmed down from that day now, but I was quite upset for the rest of the day and the next day even.
I know that I'm a good mom. I don't doubt that. I HATE that I am no longer comfortable playing with Josephine in our own backyard.
Josephine, as I mentioned before, askes to watch a movie when she wakes up. I usually allow it if we have nothing going on, I get about a half hour of uninterupted time to plan, do homework, clean, or whatever before she's bored with it. Usually she wants Robots, Tinkerbell, or Cars, but I got her to start asking for Cry Baby on some mornings. Small victories.
I'm sending Josephine to Disney on Ice this week. With her aunt and her nana, not her mama...I am missing 'baby's first ice show' but I am getting a evening to myself. Fair trade.
Remember the Superbowl? Way back then...well, I have no comment on the game. We had it on and my dad watched it but the rest of us just went on with our day like any other sunday. Just before the game started we were all in the kitchen when someone walked in the front door. Usually when someone lets themselves in it's my brother visiting or maybe my sister parked in the driveway instead of the garage. Out of habit someone yelled "YAY" when we heard the door open but when the guest walked around the corner we saw it was an old man. An old man that we've never seen before. But he had wine so we welcomed him. It tookabout 5 seconds for him to notice he was in the wrong house. Oops. It's ok though, we had plenty of beer in the fridge.
I made the most delicious cupcakes a long while ago. S'more cupcakes. I ate most of them myself, like two or three a day. I couldn't help it! They were easy too, here is the recipe I used: KAPOW! Just spend 5 minutes on that blog's archives and then go find your apron. You will be a hero.
Now, a few years ago this house had a semi-private back yard. But in the last two years where there used to be trees there are now houses. Houses so close that when the trees in our yard are bare (as they are now) you can see everything that goes on in the other houses if the blinds are up. We can hear everything that goes on when they are in thier back yard because it is no different than if they were in our yard.
This is going somewhere, I promise.
One of these newly super-close neighbors hadn't been home all winter, or so I thought. I hadn't seen or heard anything from that house since last summer when we heard them moving in, with two little kids running around. We never got the chance to meet them.
So back to naked Josephine. After stripping down she opens the back door to let the cat out. I call to her to hurry up and close the door since it's so cold out. She is two. She steps out onto the porch and shakes her butt. I grabbed my camera and get a 20 sec video of her assuring me it isn't cold out and then jumping back into the house because her toes are cold. There was no snow on the porch. She never took more than one step away from the house. The door never closed behind her. I'd show you the video to prove that she wasn't out there more than 30 seconds tops but, she's naked and this is the internet...so, no. I tell you all this because about 4 hours later the cops stop by to let me know a concerned neighbor called to report a naked baby in the back yard. He tells me it was the mystery neighbor house that I thought was empty.
So many things wrong with this.
Why didn't they come over themselves if they thought Joey had let herself out without my knowing?
They must have told the police that she was safely back in the house or else it wouldn't have taken 4 hours for them to come check-up on me.
I still haven't see any movement from that house, I guess I can't be 100% certain that the cop pointed to the right house. Or maybe they just don't like playing outside.
I am mostly calmed down from that day now, but I was quite upset for the rest of the day and the next day even.
I know that I'm a good mom. I don't doubt that. I HATE that I am no longer comfortable playing with Josephine in our own backyard.
Playing with the panorama function on my camera.
I'm sending Josephine to Disney on Ice this week. With her aunt and her nana, not her mama...I am missing 'baby's first ice show' but I am getting a evening to myself. Fair trade.
She's got a honey+olive oil hair treatment in.
She knows how to relax
2.04.2010
finding my marbles
NOT A BABY
Still just two, but oh what a much more pleasant two than just weeks ago. She entered two with a crash and continued her Hulk Smash attitude for weeks, scaring the crap out of her mother.
How was I supposed to survive months of this? Would it end, ever? Would she transition from tantrums over M&M's to tantrums over homework? And then curfew? Then coming home from college? Would she ever shut up?
Then we had a day of quiet. It stood out so much that my mind bounced back and forth between enjoying the peaceful happy day and scrambling to figure out how this happened so that it could be repeated.
Now she regularly says (and signs) “thank you” without prompting, as well as “pease” and “you’re helcome”.
She pretends to be a robot for about half the day. It probably has nothing to do with the fact she wants to (and usually gets to) watch Robots every morning. She also wants at least one random episode of Blue’s Clues which is followed by a request for a specific episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. Yes, I let her watch them. She doesn’t actually sit through all of it.
She’s been a kick butt sleeper at night lately too. Took her long enough, but she’s finally there. After months of trying to get her to take a normal nap at a normal time she just up and started to tell me that she is “seepy, mama” at the same time every afternoon and takes my hand to lead me to the bedroom. She still doesn’t always stay napping long enough.
I’ve heard 2 year olds with better verbal skills than Josephine’s, but I’ve also heard worse. She is definitely catching on to new words and sounds at super speed now though. Kinda freaky. The best is that on one of her Yo Gabba Gabba episodes the “cool trick” is a beat-box demonstration by Rahzel and she tries to make the sounds along with him. She’s getting good.
So, she is pretty radical as of late, I hope it lasts.
HOMEMADE
I made some homemade ketchup a while back and it was really good. Except I don’t eat ketchup normally anyway so I spent the next few weeks making food that I could use ketchup with, I ate a lot of french-fries and burgers . No one else liked it much which was a bummer but whatever. It didn’t taste like normal store-bought ketchup but I thought it was better (and healthier!)
Last night I made yogurt. When I announced that I was going to attempt this, my family all made a stink face and asked if that was even safe, they think I’m trying to poison them. Whatever, it’s not difficult but I suspect it takes a few attempts to get it to the taste and texture you personally want. So far mine is a good taste but I’d like it to be thicker so I’m trying to drain it a little this morning. I’m still considering it a success.
Next up is homemade mayonnaise. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long while now but I guess I was putting it off thinking I shouldn’t be eating mayo anyway. Whatever, I eat lots of mayonnaise and I like it, so there.
Still just two, but oh what a much more pleasant two than just weeks ago. She entered two with a crash and continued her Hulk Smash attitude for weeks, scaring the crap out of her mother.
How was I supposed to survive months of this? Would it end, ever? Would she transition from tantrums over M&M's to tantrums over homework? And then curfew? Then coming home from college? Would she ever shut up?
Then we had a day of quiet. It stood out so much that my mind bounced back and forth between enjoying the peaceful happy day and scrambling to figure out how this happened so that it could be repeated.
Now she regularly says (and signs) “thank you” without prompting, as well as “pease” and “you’re helcome”.
She pretends to be a robot for about half the day. It probably has nothing to do with the fact she wants to (and usually gets to) watch Robots every morning. She also wants at least one random episode of Blue’s Clues which is followed by a request for a specific episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. Yes, I let her watch them. She doesn’t actually sit through all of it.
She’s been a kick butt sleeper at night lately too. Took her long enough, but she’s finally there. After months of trying to get her to take a normal nap at a normal time she just up and started to tell me that she is “seepy, mama” at the same time every afternoon and takes my hand to lead me to the bedroom. She still doesn’t always stay napping long enough.
I’ve heard 2 year olds with better verbal skills than Josephine’s, but I’ve also heard worse. She is definitely catching on to new words and sounds at super speed now though. Kinda freaky. The best is that on one of her Yo Gabba Gabba episodes the “cool trick” is a beat-box demonstration by Rahzel and she tries to make the sounds along with him. She’s getting good.
So, she is pretty radical as of late, I hope it lasts.
HOMEMADE
I made some homemade ketchup a while back and it was really good. Except I don’t eat ketchup normally anyway so I spent the next few weeks making food that I could use ketchup with, I ate a lot of french-fries and burgers . No one else liked it much which was a bummer but whatever. It didn’t taste like normal store-bought ketchup but I thought it was better (and healthier!)
Last night I made yogurt. When I announced that I was going to attempt this, my family all made a stink face and asked if that was even safe, they think I’m trying to poison them. Whatever, it’s not difficult but I suspect it takes a few attempts to get it to the taste and texture you personally want. So far mine is a good taste but I’d like it to be thicker so I’m trying to drain it a little this morning. I’m still considering it a success.
Next up is homemade mayonnaise. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long while now but I guess I was putting it off thinking I shouldn’t be eating mayo anyway. Whatever, I eat lots of mayonnaise and I like it, so there.
1.27.2010
now what
Got a coupon in the mail for some Touch of Gray hair dye today. Yeah, the stuff for men...
What is the Universe trying to tell me?
I found another grey hair tonight also.
I can tell that both hairs started to be grey about 3-4 weeks ago. What happened in my life about a month ago? Oh yeah, I became a mother to a two year old.
Coincidence?
What is the Universe trying to tell me?
I found another grey hair tonight also.
I can tell that both hairs started to be grey about 3-4 weeks ago. What happened in my life about a month ago? Oh yeah, I became a mother to a two year old.
Coincidence?
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