Awesome things about being 30 and South Dakota men.
1. Most awesome thing about being 30 (outside being referred to as old - which is always awesome). I can order a Long Island without getting carded, because I guess I just look THAT old. But the bonus to this is that I also don't get any looks for ordering a "heavy" drink while dining out with my family. I have found that Long Islands are essential for dining out with children... or I guess, really, even most adults I know. You know who you are... Nik.
2. Cowboys/Tuckers/Farmers. There is one great thing I have learned about the men out here. They all are rugged. That's right ladies, you know what I mean, tall dark and handsome. Actually, usually not all that dark, but they wear hats. Baseball hats, trucking hats (which look like baseball hats, but slightly different), and cowboys hats. Cowboy hats for women, at least me, are like knee high boots are to most men, not Nik, but most men.
3. The men out here are not much for words, but the all smile, tip their hat and they even OPEN THE DOORS for me AND my kids (which I feel bad about - cause the kids take sooooo long to get through a door way).
Like, what the what?!
That's right, we got that southern hospitality way up North. Yee Haw.
These are the things I noticed today. Have an awesome night Californians.
An Up-Date to this post:
1. I might have just had a Long Island or two.
2. My humor is always, always meant in a good way! I am loving living in South Dakota. Sometimes I miss home, but this place is also becoming near and dear to me. And I LOVE southern hospitality and hats! (No sarcasm there). Not to mention I am enjoying the break from men of the bay. They can be, oh gosh, how do I say this? Metrosexual?
LOL. Eek! Bay Area boys. So cute! But when a guy is more concerned with what their hair, clothes, shoes look like than I am (which is hard)... Give my South Dakota men anytime!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tiny Victories
Life has been rough lately. I blame the weather. Maybe also the culture shock of the move and the demanded adjustments. I am finding that everyday it is really important to take the good - even if it is a tiny victory.
Tonight we had one of my favorite meals: White Rice (cooked in GF chicken broth added for taste), Broccoli (simply steamed - though my man has been thwarting my attempts at health by adding cheese to the tops) and Salmon (broiled – my current oven can actually broil – super stoked).
Family meal time is a huge constant at our house. This is the one place where Beezus can ask her philosophical or theological questions – never ending as they are and Ramona can crack jokes and tell us about her mischief. It is the place we discuss God, the universe, molecules, germs, nutrition and what we did that day. I really feel it is where we can all be heard and connect.
This is not me bragging, because this does not necessarily mean that the mechanics of dinner go well. Often the kids dance in their seats. I have never understood why I have to remind my kids to sit all the way in their chairs. It is a little bizarre how often Ramona literally falls out of her chair. Spills happen too often and what one kids will eat, the other often will not. Beezus has an annoying habit of spitting out her food in protest. And the climatic end to the evening, no matter what great conversation we have, is one tired mom with a lot of dishes to do!
Well, tonight was different. My entire family (my man included – who does not like salmon) cleaned their plates. There was no fighting at the dinner table between children. No complaining. No spills! Everyone was entirely in their seats - no falling ove.! Really with two kiddos, two years apart, this is huge accomplishment. I decided, though we don't normally have desserts after dinner, that tonight is an ice cream night! I am also very against fast food (unless we are traveling). I loosened up. There happens to be a DQ near by and the DQ does have some GF options. So I sent my man to grab some ice cream for our family.
My man loves doing all errands as a family. In the past, when he worked at home, this was convenient. Doing errand together meant never having to combat two tiny children at Costco alone. It also meant my man could grab more costco food court pizza - he never seems to get sick of that. However, this time when my man started to pouted a bit about flying solo to get dessert the part of me that is now alone with our delightful children more often (or perhaps the part of me that played single parent for a couple months) had a different take on our old customs. I couldn't help but get my fiery, mischievous side going. I announced to the kids that Daddy needed some company to go get dessert. What wonderful volunteers! Thus, I scored myself about 20 minutes to post a blog in private.
Tally is in my favor tonight.
Scored an awesome dinner, 20 minutes peace AND a dessert for a well done evening. Did not even mind doing the dishes.
Really, it is the small victories that make me smile lately.
Tonight we had one of my favorite meals: White Rice (cooked in GF chicken broth added for taste), Broccoli (simply steamed - though my man has been thwarting my attempts at health by adding cheese to the tops) and Salmon (broiled – my current oven can actually broil – super stoked).
Family meal time is a huge constant at our house. This is the one place where Beezus can ask her philosophical or theological questions – never ending as they are and Ramona can crack jokes and tell us about her mischief. It is the place we discuss God, the universe, molecules, germs, nutrition and what we did that day. I really feel it is where we can all be heard and connect.
This is not me bragging, because this does not necessarily mean that the mechanics of dinner go well. Often the kids dance in their seats. I have never understood why I have to remind my kids to sit all the way in their chairs. It is a little bizarre how often Ramona literally falls out of her chair. Spills happen too often and what one kids will eat, the other often will not. Beezus has an annoying habit of spitting out her food in protest. And the climatic end to the evening, no matter what great conversation we have, is one tired mom with a lot of dishes to do!
Well, tonight was different. My entire family (my man included – who does not like salmon) cleaned their plates. There was no fighting at the dinner table between children. No complaining. No spills! Everyone was entirely in their seats - no falling ove.! Really with two kiddos, two years apart, this is huge accomplishment. I decided, though we don't normally have desserts after dinner, that tonight is an ice cream night! I am also very against fast food (unless we are traveling). I loosened up. There happens to be a DQ near by and the DQ does have some GF options. So I sent my man to grab some ice cream for our family.
My man loves doing all errands as a family. In the past, when he worked at home, this was convenient. Doing errand together meant never having to combat two tiny children at Costco alone. It also meant my man could grab more costco food court pizza - he never seems to get sick of that. However, this time when my man started to pouted a bit about flying solo to get dessert the part of me that is now alone with our delightful children more often (or perhaps the part of me that played single parent for a couple months) had a different take on our old customs. I couldn't help but get my fiery, mischievous side going. I announced to the kids that Daddy needed some company to go get dessert. What wonderful volunteers! Thus, I scored myself about 20 minutes to post a blog in private.
Tally is in my favor tonight.
Scored an awesome dinner, 20 minutes peace AND a dessert for a well done evening. Did not even mind doing the dishes.
Really, it is the small victories that make me smile lately.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
My Grocery List
I have been putting off going into the GF (gluten free) food posts. Mainly due to GF food being such a large topic - blech. I have a new concept which should make this easier. Every now and then I am going to post my grocery list. You get to have an up close intimate look at what my family eats now. This should be a great way to dive into what GF foods are out there and where they can be found easily.
Easy Finds. HyVee (or Safeway)
1. Cinnamon Chex Cereal. Chex is one of the few mainstream brands that caters to the GF crowd. The GF variations include rice, honey nut, chocolate and cinnamon. Careful to look close, not all Chex are GF and none of the mixes are. The GF variations proudly state in large green letters on the front of the cereal box “Gluten Free”.
2. Yoplait Yogurt Vanilla. Yoplait is another great mainstream brand that caters for the GF crowd. The individual yogurts state “gluten free” next to their ingredient information. Not all the Yoplait Yogurts are GF, but many of the standard flavors are. Their “parfait” line is not. I haven’t checked their thicker yogurts or their “duets”.
I love these yogurts for me as they up my calcium levels easily as a fast breakfast. I tend to not drink milk much. I personally do not bother with fat-free, but those are awesome as well. I like the individually packed yogurt as apposed to the bulk buy because I can count calories easier.
3. Yoplait Go-Gurts. A yogurt aimed at kids. These are great to pop in the freezer. My kids love them that way. Also, these are super easy on play dates and for lunches. Some moms don’t like the amount of sugar – so there are draw backs to convenience. Anyway, this is our super easy cheat. Also states on the box near ingredient label “gluten free”.
4. Chicken (fresh w/nothing added). Often chicken is enhanced with chicken broth – you need to call in about that – never assume. Right now from Sam’s Club we get the Tysons boneless skinless chicken breasts with no flavoring added. I like that we can get this in bulk and cut down cost.
5. Van’s Wheat-Free Waffles (Frozen Product). Not all mainstream stores will sell these, but many do sell this are a similar brand. Read the labels carefully. I do not personally love this brand. The taste and texture are not great. In fact I do not usual buy these. It is more a matter of convenience and a necessity to have variety early in the morning for the kids.
6. Potatoes. I love the fingerlings – Costco and Sam’s Club sell them. Super fast and easy to cook as apposed to large baked potatoes. Obviously raw potatoes are gluten free.
7. Salmon. I love fish. I love the health factor. You get your fatty acids/Omega 3 and 6s. Very awesome.
Harder Finds. The next part of my list can be found at many general stores, but often needs a specialty store.
1. Udi’s. I LOVE THIS BRAND. If you need GF this is an important brand to know. At least as important to my other favorite Pamelas. Udi’s makes sandwich bread. It is the main reason I have not managed to come up with a decent bread recipe to share with you all and I am thrilled about that! I mean, the bread isn’t perfect; however, it is doable and easily better than anything else out there right now. Most general stores sell Udi’s sandwich bread now. It is hard to find in the store usually. This bread is sold frozen since GF breads go bad faster than regular bread. So check all freezers. In Lafayette they have it in the bakery section in their special cake freezer.
2. Udi’s GF Bagels. You need to go to a specialty store for this product or order online. These are the best GF bagels you can find in specialty arena that are mildly mainstream. Still leaves something to be desired – but it isn’t overly rice-y.
3. Udi’s pizza crust. This product can be found at many mainstream stores, but not all. Again it’s frozen. Glutino is a brand that also does a more substantial pizza crust I like a quite a bit; however, I have not found this pizza crust in South Dakota yet.
4. Kinnikinnick. This is another amazing brand. We got their Cinnamon Sugar Donuts today. We found them at our local HyVee which is revising its specialty foods area. I am super excited to see them again. They also have GF Vanilla and GF Chocolate.
5. Annie’s HomeGrown Gluten Free Bunny Cookies Cocoa and Vanilla – Annie’s also makes a boxes Mac n Cheese for GF diet (I don’t use this much, but when I do I add grated cheddar cheese and butter to thicken it). The cookies are similar to animal crackers/cookies.
6. Organic Quinoa Pasta by Ancient Harvest. Best pasta out there. I have found that it is tricky and just annoying to cook GF pasta. We have WAY less spaghetti than we used to and no Mac n Cheese. The trick I have learned with this particular pasta is to have the water boiling first, to go for ten minutes as apposed to the lower end of the time frame of 6-9 minutes printed on the box and to add a teaspoon or less of butter to the noodles for the last 2 minutes of cooking them. Also, use a much larger pan than for regular pasta and do not stop stirring. Over cooking, under cooking and noodles sticking together are real issues. The pasta does not necessarily cook evenly either. If you get it right though, man this is a great tasting noodle. I have tried to cook their elbow noodles, but I have less luck with that. You will find that fewer problems occur with rice pasta – but we get sick of the rice taste after a while.
Anyway, that was my grocery list for today. Maybe I have finally gone about shedding some light on the GF diet at our house.
Easy Finds. HyVee (or Safeway)
1. Cinnamon Chex Cereal. Chex is one of the few mainstream brands that caters to the GF crowd. The GF variations include rice, honey nut, chocolate and cinnamon. Careful to look close, not all Chex are GF and none of the mixes are. The GF variations proudly state in large green letters on the front of the cereal box “Gluten Free”.
2. Yoplait Yogurt Vanilla. Yoplait is another great mainstream brand that caters for the GF crowd. The individual yogurts state “gluten free” next to their ingredient information. Not all the Yoplait Yogurts are GF, but many of the standard flavors are. Their “parfait” line is not. I haven’t checked their thicker yogurts or their “duets”.
I love these yogurts for me as they up my calcium levels easily as a fast breakfast. I tend to not drink milk much. I personally do not bother with fat-free, but those are awesome as well. I like the individually packed yogurt as apposed to the bulk buy because I can count calories easier.
3. Yoplait Go-Gurts. A yogurt aimed at kids. These are great to pop in the freezer. My kids love them that way. Also, these are super easy on play dates and for lunches. Some moms don’t like the amount of sugar – so there are draw backs to convenience. Anyway, this is our super easy cheat. Also states on the box near ingredient label “gluten free”.
4. Chicken (fresh w/nothing added). Often chicken is enhanced with chicken broth – you need to call in about that – never assume. Right now from Sam’s Club we get the Tysons boneless skinless chicken breasts with no flavoring added. I like that we can get this in bulk and cut down cost.
5. Van’s Wheat-Free Waffles (Frozen Product). Not all mainstream stores will sell these, but many do sell this are a similar brand. Read the labels carefully. I do not personally love this brand. The taste and texture are not great. In fact I do not usual buy these. It is more a matter of convenience and a necessity to have variety early in the morning for the kids.
6. Potatoes. I love the fingerlings – Costco and Sam’s Club sell them. Super fast and easy to cook as apposed to large baked potatoes. Obviously raw potatoes are gluten free.
7. Salmon. I love fish. I love the health factor. You get your fatty acids/Omega 3 and 6s. Very awesome.
Harder Finds. The next part of my list can be found at many general stores, but often needs a specialty store.
1. Udi’s. I LOVE THIS BRAND. If you need GF this is an important brand to know. At least as important to my other favorite Pamelas. Udi’s makes sandwich bread. It is the main reason I have not managed to come up with a decent bread recipe to share with you all and I am thrilled about that! I mean, the bread isn’t perfect; however, it is doable and easily better than anything else out there right now. Most general stores sell Udi’s sandwich bread now. It is hard to find in the store usually. This bread is sold frozen since GF breads go bad faster than regular bread. So check all freezers. In Lafayette they have it in the bakery section in their special cake freezer.
2. Udi’s GF Bagels. You need to go to a specialty store for this product or order online. These are the best GF bagels you can find in specialty arena that are mildly mainstream. Still leaves something to be desired – but it isn’t overly rice-y.
3. Udi’s pizza crust. This product can be found at many mainstream stores, but not all. Again it’s frozen. Glutino is a brand that also does a more substantial pizza crust I like a quite a bit; however, I have not found this pizza crust in South Dakota yet.
4. Kinnikinnick. This is another amazing brand. We got their Cinnamon Sugar Donuts today. We found them at our local HyVee which is revising its specialty foods area. I am super excited to see them again. They also have GF Vanilla and GF Chocolate.
5. Annie’s HomeGrown Gluten Free Bunny Cookies Cocoa and Vanilla – Annie’s also makes a boxes Mac n Cheese for GF diet (I don’t use this much, but when I do I add grated cheddar cheese and butter to thicken it). The cookies are similar to animal crackers/cookies.
6. Organic Quinoa Pasta by Ancient Harvest. Best pasta out there. I have found that it is tricky and just annoying to cook GF pasta. We have WAY less spaghetti than we used to and no Mac n Cheese. The trick I have learned with this particular pasta is to have the water boiling first, to go for ten minutes as apposed to the lower end of the time frame of 6-9 minutes printed on the box and to add a teaspoon or less of butter to the noodles for the last 2 minutes of cooking them. Also, use a much larger pan than for regular pasta and do not stop stirring. Over cooking, under cooking and noodles sticking together are real issues. The pasta does not necessarily cook evenly either. If you get it right though, man this is a great tasting noodle. I have tried to cook their elbow noodles, but I have less luck with that. You will find that fewer problems occur with rice pasta – but we get sick of the rice taste after a while.
Anyway, that was my grocery list for today. Maybe I have finally gone about shedding some light on the GF diet at our house.
Friday, January 7, 2011
TGIF
Long week and we are happy to see the end of it. Maybe it is the cold weather, the longer school days for the kids or having only one car to get everyone to and from their various activities. I think we are just super happy to have a bit of break.
Highlights of the week:
1. This was Ramona’s first week of school; however, you wouldn’t know it. She has a made a best friend, loves her teacher and is completely adjusted to her new routine. Her best friend’s name is Kaylie. I thought that was funny. The kindergartners in general seem very out going.
2. We went to sign Beezus up for Ballet last night. She is very excited and the facility was beautiful and vibrant. There is one large waiting room with two full wall windows to look into. In one room there was a class of kids a year older than Beezus doing a combo ballet/hip hop class. In the adjoining room was an adult Zumba class. The kids were fascinated by the Zumba. I think they both wanted to join. In fact as we waited for the owner to fill out registration information they stared wide eyed and open mouthed. They were quite taken.
3. I will be taking Zumba. My man has noticed a bit of loneliness going on with me. So, he suggested I take the class. He says “you like working out and it looks like the class is pretty social”. I am very nervous and very excited. I guess this is more of future highlight not a this week highlight, but whatever.
4. We are planning a trip back to Sunny California (?). We will be visiting in February to take care of last minutes details with the house. After all the work to get it into selling condition a tree fell on it! Life is just full of surprises. Conveniently this means a couple trips out to the bay. I am going to assume fate played an awesome role in the tree toppling!
5. The Victoria Secrets Semi-Annual sale I wait all half year to stop by hit this week. Even though it was a late at night when I made it out to this sale the store was packed. I enjoyed over hearing the conversations, specifically the church gossip. It’s good to know we have a lively church crowd here. I should have asked which church the hail from.
On to the weekend!
Highlights of the week:
1. This was Ramona’s first week of school; however, you wouldn’t know it. She has a made a best friend, loves her teacher and is completely adjusted to her new routine. Her best friend’s name is Kaylie. I thought that was funny. The kindergartners in general seem very out going.
2. We went to sign Beezus up for Ballet last night. She is very excited and the facility was beautiful and vibrant. There is one large waiting room with two full wall windows to look into. In one room there was a class of kids a year older than Beezus doing a combo ballet/hip hop class. In the adjoining room was an adult Zumba class. The kids were fascinated by the Zumba. I think they both wanted to join. In fact as we waited for the owner to fill out registration information they stared wide eyed and open mouthed. They were quite taken.
3. I will be taking Zumba. My man has noticed a bit of loneliness going on with me. So, he suggested I take the class. He says “you like working out and it looks like the class is pretty social”. I am very nervous and very excited. I guess this is more of future highlight not a this week highlight, but whatever.
4. We are planning a trip back to Sunny California (?). We will be visiting in February to take care of last minutes details with the house. After all the work to get it into selling condition a tree fell on it! Life is just full of surprises. Conveniently this means a couple trips out to the bay. I am going to assume fate played an awesome role in the tree toppling!
5. The Victoria Secrets Semi-Annual sale I wait all half year to stop by hit this week. Even though it was a late at night when I made it out to this sale the store was packed. I enjoyed over hearing the conversations, specifically the church gossip. It’s good to know we have a lively church crowd here. I should have asked which church the hail from.
On to the weekend!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Desperately searching for the fimiliar
My hope is always to report how swell the move is going and how well we are all adjusting. Right now it seems we have half the family doing well and half the family struggling. Sadly Beezus and I are not adjusting the way I would have hoped. On the flip side Ramona is quite pleased and my man seems sufficiently satisfied.
Beezus misses her life in California. She misses her grandma. She misses her friends. She misses her teacher. Beezus avidly dislikes the snow and cold. I can tell this takes a toll on her father and though I try to remain strong in front of her - constantly reassuring her that we can visit California in the summer, that we can find fun things to do here, that she will make new friends and the weather will get better - secretly I feel her pain. Part of it is seeing her in so much grief and frustration. Part of it is I knowing all to well how she feels. And then there is the irritating helplessness that I can not just pack up and move back.
It isn’t the move itself or the location. There are many nice things about South Dakota and a change of life pace. The sky is in fact “larger” here. The sunrises and sets are beautiful. I actually like the cold and enjoy watching the snow fall. The financial relief and healthcare don’t hurt either. There are plenty of gluten free options. The people are talkative and friendly. I have never seen so many kids and babies. Also, it is very 1950s America. Most kids walk to school and home from it - including kindergarteners! (Which is great for natives, but I will stick with my “city” roots and walk my kids in and out of their school). All the backyards are shared. There seems to be a strong sense of community.
The problem is there is just nothing familiar. Everything we are surrounded by is a constant reminder that we aren’t in Kansas anymore. It is in the accents, the language nuisances, the food, the different stores, the traffic etc. Even the things that make it nice, just reiterate the differences.
Presently Beezus’s struggle is daily and any resolve I have crumbles the second the kids are in bed. So, right now Beezus and I are in search of the familiar. A security we can visit when things just get to be too much.
Our goals to fix this are simple and yet tough.
1. Break into a community.
How to do this is a little beyond me. None of the parents, or very few, walk their kids in and out of the school. Few parents here volunteer. Thus far meeting other parents has presented some difficulties. We will start with some play dates now that our boxes are finally unpacked.
There is also a large religious community, but not a large Jewish one. So, I am stuck trying to decide if we should look into attending an organized religion – as apposed to the loose based faith we practice at home.
2. Next we find a hobby or routine to “ground us”.
Ramona is truly blessed to have a passion for gymnastics. Luckily there are several nice facilities in town. This has made her adjustment awesome, because she has something extremely positive to look forward to all week. I could not be happier for her. It is magical to watch her. I love seeing the complete elation on her face while she balances on the beam or jumps on a trampoline. The pride I feel in her during that one hour is astonishingly powerful. True happiness is watching your kids doing something they enjoy.
What I would not give for Beezus to have something she can enjoy as much. Beezus has always had a love for dance and has in the past had dance lessons. She adores Angelina Ballerina books and has often proclaimed she will be a famous dancer some day. Sadly, her health has worked against her in all things physical. However, I have found a dance studio here that might work out for her. Hopefully her body doesn’t work against her. So we will be starting dance up next week. Cross your fingers!
3. Find some friends… of course this just takes time. However, I feel like I just need to meet ANYONE. I am a rather social person and I have been feeling really cooped up and soooo lonely. I began to start hanging off my man’s poor secretary the other day. I just kept talking on and on with her. My man sort of had to drag me away. Later that day I started contemplating going to a movie with her. My man had to point out it might not be the best person to hang out with since she works for him. I am still not sure that matters per say, but I will hold off a little longer before I ask. She is my age and does have kids that are my kids age.
For now Beezus and I are lucky enough to both be animal people. It would be an understatement to suggest that our pets are our security. I will fall back again on how (despite the hard time I give them) our furry friends have been an absolute blessing. The unconditional love and companionship of our pets have offered comfort and a sense of home. I have to just be thankful they are here safe and sound. Athena and Squirrel in particular have truly aided Beezus and I each day at our weakest of moments.
Anyway… not the most fun of posts, but an honest one. I hope to post next that we are more integrated, grounded and have made some friends.
Beezus misses her life in California. She misses her grandma. She misses her friends. She misses her teacher. Beezus avidly dislikes the snow and cold. I can tell this takes a toll on her father and though I try to remain strong in front of her - constantly reassuring her that we can visit California in the summer, that we can find fun things to do here, that she will make new friends and the weather will get better - secretly I feel her pain. Part of it is seeing her in so much grief and frustration. Part of it is I knowing all to well how she feels. And then there is the irritating helplessness that I can not just pack up and move back.
It isn’t the move itself or the location. There are many nice things about South Dakota and a change of life pace. The sky is in fact “larger” here. The sunrises and sets are beautiful. I actually like the cold and enjoy watching the snow fall. The financial relief and healthcare don’t hurt either. There are plenty of gluten free options. The people are talkative and friendly. I have never seen so many kids and babies. Also, it is very 1950s America. Most kids walk to school and home from it - including kindergarteners! (Which is great for natives, but I will stick with my “city” roots and walk my kids in and out of their school). All the backyards are shared. There seems to be a strong sense of community.
The problem is there is just nothing familiar. Everything we are surrounded by is a constant reminder that we aren’t in Kansas anymore. It is in the accents, the language nuisances, the food, the different stores, the traffic etc. Even the things that make it nice, just reiterate the differences.
Presently Beezus’s struggle is daily and any resolve I have crumbles the second the kids are in bed. So, right now Beezus and I are in search of the familiar. A security we can visit when things just get to be too much.
Our goals to fix this are simple and yet tough.
1. Break into a community.
How to do this is a little beyond me. None of the parents, or very few, walk their kids in and out of the school. Few parents here volunteer. Thus far meeting other parents has presented some difficulties. We will start with some play dates now that our boxes are finally unpacked.
There is also a large religious community, but not a large Jewish one. So, I am stuck trying to decide if we should look into attending an organized religion – as apposed to the loose based faith we practice at home.
2. Next we find a hobby or routine to “ground us”.
Ramona is truly blessed to have a passion for gymnastics. Luckily there are several nice facilities in town. This has made her adjustment awesome, because she has something extremely positive to look forward to all week. I could not be happier for her. It is magical to watch her. I love seeing the complete elation on her face while she balances on the beam or jumps on a trampoline. The pride I feel in her during that one hour is astonishingly powerful. True happiness is watching your kids doing something they enjoy.
What I would not give for Beezus to have something she can enjoy as much. Beezus has always had a love for dance and has in the past had dance lessons. She adores Angelina Ballerina books and has often proclaimed she will be a famous dancer some day. Sadly, her health has worked against her in all things physical. However, I have found a dance studio here that might work out for her. Hopefully her body doesn’t work against her. So we will be starting dance up next week. Cross your fingers!
3. Find some friends… of course this just takes time. However, I feel like I just need to meet ANYONE. I am a rather social person and I have been feeling really cooped up and soooo lonely. I began to start hanging off my man’s poor secretary the other day. I just kept talking on and on with her. My man sort of had to drag me away. Later that day I started contemplating going to a movie with her. My man had to point out it might not be the best person to hang out with since she works for him. I am still not sure that matters per say, but I will hold off a little longer before I ask. She is my age and does have kids that are my kids age.
For now Beezus and I are lucky enough to both be animal people. It would be an understatement to suggest that our pets are our security. I will fall back again on how (despite the hard time I give them) our furry friends have been an absolute blessing. The unconditional love and companionship of our pets have offered comfort and a sense of home. I have to just be thankful they are here safe and sound. Athena and Squirrel in particular have truly aided Beezus and I each day at our weakest of moments.
Anyway… not the most fun of posts, but an honest one. I hope to post next that we are more integrated, grounded and have made some friends.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Bits and Pieces of Fluffiness
For the most part I will stick to fun stories about the family. Like, for instance, Beezus has wanted a wig since Halloween. As a result Santa brought our darling daughter a "tangled" wig. Beezus was so thrilled it has hardly left her head and at one point she insisted on wearing it out.
Another fun story... mommy is slowly losing it as the winter break wears on. I am missing my breathing room. Perhaps it might have to do with Beezus's fascination with dragging the cats, which don't like the dog, into the same room as the dog. Every time the cats and dog are combined utter and complete hysteria ensues. The dog runs back and forth – and she is a 60lb dog – while the ever so “cute” kittens beat on her.
More fun can be found in our house via our zoo. Our dog is now an indoor dog. Overall this has actually been a nice change. She follows me around, lies at my feet while I cook and finds food that the kids drop on the floor around the kitchen table. If I am having a hard day she lays her head in my lap and cuddles. Turns out she is a better animal inside than a couple cats I know.
Her only problem is she isn’t very bright. I let her outside when she needs some "outdoor time". SHE LOVES THE SNOW. She runs around, digs, makes friends with the neighborhood dogs, does her business, and when it is time to come in she sits by our back door and barks. One bark is fine. A couple barks when it takes me a minute to get to the door is also fine. What Athena does is different. She will bark a couple times very nice and polite. So, I open the door and I tell her “Okay Athena”. In California all she needed was an “okay” command and she barreled inside. Now she just looks at me. So I repeat. “OK Athena”. Nothing, she just looks at me. Unlike good ol'Walnut Creek in South Dakota a door opened means it gets cold fast. I don’t want to wear my jacket to let her inside – that seems excessive. After about the tenth time telling her “okay”, AND waving treats in front of her face AND utilizing the overly high and annoying voice people use with dogs and babies, it is getting COLD. So, I shut the door. What does our princess do? She barks. One nice, clear, concise, "hey - why did you shut the door??" She doesn’t move. She just sits there, like she was doing the whole dang time, and barks while looking at me! I am standing on the other side of that glass door, right there WITH my arms crossed, looking right back at her like, “WHAT??” So, I open the door and we repeat this process. This can literally go on and on for up to hours. I get bored and walk away she barks in confussion, but it lasts hours of on and off opening and shutting the door. I have started to just yell quiet and hope she isn’t too cold. Eventually she does come in… I just… don’t… get… it. If I walk outside to get her she gets super excited and runs into the yard. I think she might want us to play outside with her. That is the only theory I can come up with so far.
The cats are their own source of special. They now run through out the hallways all night and one particularly evil feline has taken to howling. In fact our howler, aka Tenchi, will howl randomly in the wee hours (like, say 3am, 5am and anytime in between). A little after the howling habit began, back at the corporate housing, one of my dear daughters locked him in closest and forgot about him. We slept so well that night! I remember wondering why he was so quiet, but hey, if it isn't broke don't fix it, verdad? So, I did not go looking for him. In truth I was enjoying the break from his horrid sounds. I find out the next night about dinner time that he was in the closest for the whole day and night before. Don't worry, he is fine... unfortunately. However, I ask you, why didn't he howl then???
Another fun story... mommy is slowly losing it as the winter break wears on. I am missing my breathing room. Perhaps it might have to do with Beezus's fascination with dragging the cats, which don't like the dog, into the same room as the dog. Every time the cats and dog are combined utter and complete hysteria ensues. The dog runs back and forth – and she is a 60lb dog – while the ever so “cute” kittens beat on her.
More fun can be found in our house via our zoo. Our dog is now an indoor dog. Overall this has actually been a nice change. She follows me around, lies at my feet while I cook and finds food that the kids drop on the floor around the kitchen table. If I am having a hard day she lays her head in my lap and cuddles. Turns out she is a better animal inside than a couple cats I know.
Her only problem is she isn’t very bright. I let her outside when she needs some "outdoor time". SHE LOVES THE SNOW. She runs around, digs, makes friends with the neighborhood dogs, does her business, and when it is time to come in she sits by our back door and barks. One bark is fine. A couple barks when it takes me a minute to get to the door is also fine. What Athena does is different. She will bark a couple times very nice and polite. So, I open the door and I tell her “Okay Athena”. In California all she needed was an “okay” command and she barreled inside. Now she just looks at me. So I repeat. “OK Athena”. Nothing, she just looks at me. Unlike good ol'Walnut Creek in South Dakota a door opened means it gets cold fast. I don’t want to wear my jacket to let her inside – that seems excessive. After about the tenth time telling her “okay”, AND waving treats in front of her face AND utilizing the overly high and annoying voice people use with dogs and babies, it is getting COLD. So, I shut the door. What does our princess do? She barks. One nice, clear, concise, "hey - why did you shut the door??" She doesn’t move. She just sits there, like she was doing the whole dang time, and barks while looking at me! I am standing on the other side of that glass door, right there WITH my arms crossed, looking right back at her like, “WHAT??” So, I open the door and we repeat this process. This can literally go on and on for up to hours. I get bored and walk away she barks in confussion, but it lasts hours of on and off opening and shutting the door. I have started to just yell quiet and hope she isn’t too cold. Eventually she does come in… I just… don’t… get… it. If I walk outside to get her she gets super excited and runs into the yard. I think she might want us to play outside with her. That is the only theory I can come up with so far.
The cats are their own source of special. They now run through out the hallways all night and one particularly evil feline has taken to howling. In fact our howler, aka Tenchi, will howl randomly in the wee hours (like, say 3am, 5am and anytime in between). A little after the howling habit began, back at the corporate housing, one of my dear daughters locked him in closest and forgot about him. We slept so well that night! I remember wondering why he was so quiet, but hey, if it isn't broke don't fix it, verdad? So, I did not go looking for him. In truth I was enjoying the break from his horrid sounds. I find out the next night about dinner time that he was in the closest for the whole day and night before. Don't worry, he is fine... unfortunately. However, I ask you, why didn't he howl then???
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Potato Pancakes! GF.
I promised I would eventually post the latka recipe we used. I like it enough I could totally see using it for fun in the future. For me it might be including the buttermilk, almond and onions.
Ingredients:
• 4 large potatoes or 2lbs
• ½ yellow onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Pamela’s baking and pancake flour
• ½ ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Cooking Instructions:
1. Finely grate potatoes with onion into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.
2. Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick.
3. Fry with desired amount of vegetable oil in the bottom of a frying pan over medium heat.
Make smaller patties – nothing thick – a ½ inch or less max only a couple inches diameter. Fry the patties a couple minutes on each side. Gluten free flours tend to burn easier (or at leas this is what I have noticed) so I flip the patties more often. I might do one or two minutes on a medium heat on one side, flip do a couple minutes and then repeat until I am sure it is well cooked (golden brown and cooked through).
I like that the Pamela’s mix includes buttermilk, almonds and potato.
The links:
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/Allergy.html
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/
Ingredients:
• 4 large potatoes or 2lbs
• ½ yellow onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Pamela’s baking and pancake flour
• ½ ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Cooking Instructions:
1. Finely grate potatoes with onion into a large bowl. Drain off any excess liquid.
2. Mix in egg, salt, and black pepper. Add enough flour to make mixture thick.
3. Fry with desired amount of vegetable oil in the bottom of a frying pan over medium heat.
Make smaller patties – nothing thick – a ½ inch or less max only a couple inches diameter. Fry the patties a couple minutes on each side. Gluten free flours tend to burn easier (or at leas this is what I have noticed) so I flip the patties more often. I might do one or two minutes on a medium heat on one side, flip do a couple minutes and then repeat until I am sure it is well cooked (golden brown and cooked through).
I like that the Pamela’s mix includes buttermilk, almonds and potato.
The links:
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/Allergy.html
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/
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