New Salt (because I used all of mine)……………………………. $0.67
Flour……………………………………………………………………….. $2.37
Cream of Tartar…………………………………………………………. $5.19
Martha Stewart Glitter…………………………………………………. $7.20
Food coloring……………………………………………………………. $4.65
Scrubbing my pots and counters……………………………………$2.50
Watching Kennedy’s face as we made glitter play-dough…… Priceless
She called it magical…
Last night I made Baked Southwestern Eggrolls and our usual tacos.
First, they sound intimidating because of the whole eggroll concept, but they’re super easy.
This is all of the ingredients in my big red mixing bowl. I would definitely use a large-ish mixing bowl just so you can get everything incorporated well. I also toned the spicing down just a little in hopes of getting Kennedy to eat one (didn’t work, wouldn’t touch it).
The part that sounds the hardest is rolling them, but it’s sort of like making a paper envelope. The directions on the website are spot on when it comes to rolling them. I didn’t use a measuring cup for the amount I put into the rolls so some of them varied in size.
My workspace. I dusted the counter with a little flour, but with pre-made wrappers it’s unnecessary.
This recipe makes a ton of rolls. I debated on using some of the filling in my tacos but in the end just decided to go ahead and make them and freeze the ones we didn’t eat.
The recipe calls for you to flip them half way through the baking process. Be smarter than me and put a little space between your rolls. It will make flipping them easier. I also sprayed them with cooking spray again.
In the end, they were easy and yummy. I have two ziplock bags full with frozen ones for a future time (my favorite thing). I think they’d be a perfect “meal” if you made slow cooked some pork or chicken in a southwestern sauce and then shredded it in with them.
I rate this Pinterest meal a solid B but mostly for my own incompetence with placing them on the baking sheet. I don’t know that I’ll go out of my way to make these again for just as a family, but I would definitely take them to a party or something.
Me and Talley, 1991 at Camp Sunshine
For some reason this is one of the few pictures I have of the two of us from childhood. This is strange for a number of reasons, but mostly because from the time we met in October of 1989 until we both headed off to college in the fall of 1999 we were inseparable. We weren’t neighbors or school friends, no I met Talley on the oncology floor at the children’s hospital where we were both treated.
The old story is that I made Talley’s hair fall out. Despite having been diagnosed months before, the kid still had a head full of hair. My Mom had met hers in the cafeteria and she’d told me about the new girl on the floor. I saw Talley being pushed around on her IV pole and told my mom to go ask her mom why she still had her hair. I’d been bald since my second round of chemo, it just wasn’t fair. That night, after my Mom had indeed asked her mom why Talley still had her hair, it began to fall out. And a wonderful friendship was formed.
I have a gazillion (at least) childhood memories that all center around Talley. Riding go-carts instead of getting chemo. Hiding from our doctors in this one nook in the clinic. Getting kicked out of restaurants for imitating our favorite counselor at camp. Raiding boys cabins at camp. Talking for hours upon hours on the phone. Playing Nintendo over the phone (old school NES at that).
Talley was the exact opposite of me which is why we complimented each other so well. She was athletic and could be a bit on the shy side. I was a theater nerd (some things don’t change) and nearly too outgoing for my own good. She was always introspective and good at reading folks whereas I was a judge first figure out if you were wrong later, person. At camp, something that we both lived for, we rarely spent any time together. We were into completely different things, but still best friends.
When we went to college, like most friendships, we went different directions. I started to live in the theater and the library. Talley moved out of state for school and seemed to rarely (if ever) come home. I remember on 9/11 I called her mom just to touch base and she promised me that all was well and that she would always call me if something happened.
Thanks to the magic of the internet we re-connected after about 5 years (since I’ve been married, at least). And now we’re both married, with kids in our lives and have actual adult lives.
And some things never change.
For about a month I’ve been telling myself that I’d sit down and make the gift tags for our gifts. I’ve made them for the past two years and I’ve always liked to do that type of thing. I finally gave up and went out and got some today at Target.
Gifts are big for me. I really love spending the time and thinking about what someone would really love and appreciate. I love picking out the gifts and wrapping them. I start thinking about Christmas in October usually. I love taking the time to wrap them and make them nice looking. Since I bought the gift tags I took ribbon that I’d gotten about a month ago with Heather when we made our way into Fabric World (AKA heaven). I spent about four hours making sure each present under our tree had a specially made bow and generic tag. Okay, all of them except kids gifts because they won’t appreciate the bow, all they’ll want to do is rip into it. Okay, except for the ones for my nephews because the new bows will make it difficult for them to get into the present and I enjoy that type of torture.
Pinterest is my latest time suck. It makes Facebook look like nothing because you FEEL like you’re doing something when you’re on it. I’m SUPER crafty thanks to Pinterest, granted I haven’t attempted that many of the actual crafts (I did make Kennedy some matching Christmas pants and I have five days to get mine finished). I find awesome recipes, funnies and things that I want to do around my house.
So, this week while I was planning my meals I decided to make all of my meals from Pinterest recipes that I’ve pinned. For the uninitiated that’s when you find a recipe either from someone elses board or the web and you mark it and add it to your board. Most of mine are sweets because I enjoy baking, but I’ve added more dinner recipes.
Tonight I made Matthew’s Delicious Tofu, Roasted Green Beans, Roasted Cabbage and brown rice. They were all on my Recipes board.
I didn’t get pictures of anything (because I couldn’t find my camera). I’m excited to say they all turned out pretty good. I really liked the tofu. It called for a non-stick pan to sautee the tofu in, which I only have one of, and it’s tiny. So, it probably took me longer to do it because I kept having to move tofu in and out. I also pressed the water out of the tofu which I think gives it a firmer taste.
I recommend all of them. They were all easy and yummy. If you’re experimenting with tofu know that you can go ahead and buy diced tofu, which I like because I’m lazy. The green beans really need the parmesan on them, but if you don’t have fresh (I didn’t) the stuff out fo the can works just as good. The cabbage is super yummy when it’s roasted. I’ve been eating it for lunch for a week or so now. It’s just so easy. The cabbage gets really buttery and parts of it get crispy which I like.
I give tonights Pinterest meals an A.
Lately I’ve been trying to stay in the moment when I’m with Kennedy. I’m trying to not think about the laundry or the dishes or what it is that I haven’t done yet. I’m trying to make memories with her.
I have some really great early memories of my Mom. I remember she would bring me a treat every afternoon when she would pick me up from daycare. It might have been some gum or a small can of juice or it could have been a little toy, it didn’t matter because she always brought me something and it made me feel incredibly special. I also remember playing hide-n-seek with her in the house I grew up in. I remember we had a large (or so seemed) china cabinet in our kitchen and my Mom hiding on the other side of it and scaring me and making me howl with laughter. Those are not large moments in the grand scheme of things and those moments could have easily not happened if my Mom had decided to do the laundry instead.
I adore this time of year. I love it for all of the real reasons we celebrate and all of the commercial reasons we celebrate. I love the nativity scenes and the advent messages at church. I love the smells and lights and the over all sense of warmth (even though here in the south, it’s an actual warmth). I love buying the gifts, receiving gifts (my husband has really outdone himself this year!), wrapping presents and hiding them from sneaky people in my house. I love addressing Christmas cards and getting the cards in the mail. I seriously LOVE this time of year.
With all of this in mind I had set out to make sure that I made some serious memories with Kennedy this year. She gets that it’s Christmas and has developed a serious affinity for Santa and Rudolph. She’s watched the Rudolph claymation special no less that 10 times this season. She even chose a Rudolph ornament for our tree over a Thomas the Train. That is a BIG deal.
As per our tradition, we drove to the mall closest to where my Mom lives to see Santa. Jason has no real desire to stand in line to see Santa with us, so I enjoy getting to share it with my Mom. On Wednesday we left and drove the hour long drive to get to the mall. We met my Mom and then Kennedy got a private session with Santa. I didn’t pay extra or make a reservation. I just took her before school gets out on a school day in the morning to a mall that doesn’t have a HUGE city feeding into it. The Santa is great. So, Kennedy goes over to him, sits in his lap like they’ve been best friends forever and then they began to chat. I was too far away to hear exactly what was being discussed, but that’s okay. It was Kennedy’s time with Santa. I heard her ask him where Rudolph was and if he would come to her house. I know she told Santa she wanted toys for Christmas and that she had been a good girl. We didn’t get a great picture because she was so start struck. She just wanted to sit and chat. And he indulged her and chatted with her and then read her a story. Kennedy might not remember this memory but watching the absolute joy in her eyes is something I won’t forget.
After that Kennedy took a ride on the malls train with my Mom. It’s a trackless train that rides along the whole mall. She loves it and watching her and my Mom just belly laugh while they are on it together makes it even better. The conductor even drove close to me so I could get this blurry picture.
Today we are headed to make another memory with Micah and Heather. And next week after school gets out I’m going to do my best to spoil my girl with a ton of Christmas memories. Making presents for our neighbors and her teachers. Playdates with special friends. Gingerbread houses and hot chocolate. It’s all about making memories.
I knew this morning when I woke up that I would either have a happy story or a hilarious story to tell here. I knew this because it was either going to go really, really good or really, really, really bad. I was going to do something with Kennedy that I had DREAMED about doing since I found out I was pregnant. Heck, I’d probably dreamed about doing this since before I even knew I wanted a Kennedy.
I was taking Kennedy to the Theater.
A little background (in case you didn’t know), I was a theater nerd in high school. I was on the State Student Thespian Board, one of five in the whole state. Not to mention SO OVERLY INVOLVED in my high school theater department that I ended up with a scholarship from them. I then went on the MAJOR in theater in college. My Mom never looked at me and asked what I was going to do with this, she assumed I’d figure it out. And I did. I taught middle school drama. I loved every moment of it (well most… filling out report cards was not my favorite activity).
So, taking Kennedy to the theater at an early age was something I’d always planned on doing. That being said, I also knew that I had to wait until she had the attention span to make it through at least a 45 minute show. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I had to leave mid-show to deal with my wailing kid. How would I get all of our stuff out? How would I get Kennedy out mid-hysteria? I’ve stopped bringing my carrier with me because my kid is strong now and I don’t think I could pick her up and put her in it if she’s in the middle of a full out tantrum. Finally, I just decided that we’d see what happened.
All of this to say I knew I was going to have something to blog about today.
We headed to the Puppet Center for the 11:30 show and got there to see a full sized Big Bird in the atrium (the Center has a Jim Henson exhibit right now). And she wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with that bird. She didn’t want to look at it or even get close to it. She made a wide arc around the atrium just to ensure she wasn’t in his reach should he choose to go after her. We walked around the museum looking at the different puppets before we got ushered in (early thanks to my cool one-leggedness) and Kennedy… became transfixed.
She wanted to know about every aspect of the theater. Thanks to my four years of study I was able to tell her all about it… I was able to describe the proscenium, the scrim that was used, how the lights worked. We talked about the stage manager, the light booth and how there were puppeteers behind the set. And then the show started (we saw Rudolph). And she watched it. I will say my teacher/theater heart broke just a little when I had to break a major theater etiquette rule and let her eat her snack. But, in my defense it kept her from crawling over the seats in front of us to join the show. At one point she looks back at me and asks where Bumble the Snowman went and I told her he just went off stage…She starts to walk out to the aisle telling me she’ll go get him.
I have no doubt that she wouldn’t have either.
Post show happiness.
PS- Our only meltdown of the day happened in the parking lot on our way to get back in the car. She saw the school bus and wanted to ride it. She wailed and cried, “When is it going to be my turn??!!” I tried really hard not to laugh.
Just writing…
I’m about 8000 words away from my NaNoWriMo goal. Which I’m afraid will encourage me to go all college-age-Kati and just chug out 8000 words of crap on Nov.29. But, I’m trying really hard not to do that. Even though I’m pretty sure about half of the words I’ve written thus far, are in fact crap. But, Nora Roberts says you can’t edit a blank page so don’t be afraid to write crap. And she’s right. My very first finished manuscript was over 100,000 words. By the time I finished all of the edits (about 3 years later thanks to the birth of Kennedy) it was under 50,000.
We are gearing up for the holidays here. Our Christmas tree is already up and and decorated, something I swore I’d never do before Thanksgiving, but the fact that we’re busy during Thanksgiving it just makes life easier to set it up. That and Kennedy thinks it’s pretty cool. She also takes Santa Clause much more seriously with the tree being up.
Speaking of Kennedy…
I have always said I wouldn’t push her on the whole potty training thing. I mean, I still don’t believe she’ll go to kindergarten in diapers, but the kid knows how to use the potty. About two months ago she went without a diaper for three days and consistently used the potty no problem. Then, she woke up on Friday and said she was done with this potty business and wanted a diaper back. I didn’t particularly care so back in the diapers she went. Lately she’s been showing more and more interest in the potty and knows she’ll get treats. In fact today she decided she wanted panties and managed to go to the potty all on her own (now, because she’s not perfect, the panties did not come down. I’ll take wet panties over a wet floor). But, after about two hours was over it. I did manage to get her into a pull-up (which I didn’t really want to use because I imagine they are confusing) mostly because her diapers have gotten to wear they fall off. So, internets, what do I do? Retire the diapers because she clearly knows how to potty but just doesn’t want to? Hope she decides to use the potty before she’s six? Thoughts?
Happy Thanksgiving!
I can’t commit to making a post for 30 days. I’m currently in the dregs of NaNoWriMo and trying to swim 2-3 times a week. The idea of putting one more daily thing on my list just overwhelms my feeble mind.
Instead, I thought I’d just blog some things that I’m thankful for periodically this month. I might hit 30, I might not.
So, in no particular order, things I’m thankful for right now.
That’s plenty for now. It’s sappy and all that stuff, but when you’re being thankful, shouldn’t you be a little sappy? I’ve already got plenty more to give thanks for, so be on the look out for me.
For about a week now I’ve been preparing Kennedy to go with me to vote in our local elections. We talked about how she would have to stand with me and be quiet. We talked about how it was important that we always vote, in every election, no matter how small it is. I’m not sure that my 2.5 year old gets it, but it’s still important to start these conversations early.
So, at about 9:30 we loaded up and head out to our local polling location. She was definitely more excited to see the playground at the school than the actual voting location. And imagine her disappointment when there wasn’t anyone else there but me and the volunteers. Then, she didn’t even have to be quiet like we’d practiced. But, the experience was salvaged by the fact that she got a sticker.
I wrote a huge rant about voting and disparity of incomes in my county between the north side and south side and how the north side doesn’t seem to want to share their wealth with the kids on the south side (or really, just one noob who doesn’t). Then deleted it. No one really cares about how I still get infuriated with this noob I went to high school with. I obviously still have some pent up anger issues regarding how I was treated in Algebra class by this person.
