I'm a disaster.

Goodness today was one of those days. I had two very minor errands to do. I had to mail something and then I was going to go to Wal-mart and pick up a few little things. First I got into the wrong lane and had to go straight when I wanted to turn right. No big deal, anyone who has ever driven with me knows this is a daily occurrence. So I drive around the block to get to the post office, but now I'm coming at it from the opposite side than I usually do and I thought it was closer than it was. So I got into the left turn/ center lane thingy waaaay early and had to go past 2 turn ins to other buildings before I finally got to it. I felt like a big loser. But I got there and mailed my letter.

Then I went to Wal-mart. I was very inefficient in both my driving to get there and my shopping but who cares, I wasn't in a rush. I also had one of those cart that made a noise every time the wheel went around so every where I go I'm making a "chunk chunk chunk" sound. But after three rambling trips around the store it was time to leave so I go to the self-check out and ring myself up. I get out to the car (of course I went out a different door than I came in so I had to walk a half mile to get to my car... "chunk chunk chunking" the whole way) and I realize that I don't have my stuff. I left it in the self check out stand. Crap! So I walk all the way back over there.... "chunk chunk chunk". By some miracle it's actually still sitting where I left it so I was able to just grab it and leave. I really thought there would be a least a small argument at the customer service desk.

Wa-mart didn't have one of the things I needed so I was going to go to Michaels. I pull out into the main street and I'm about to get on the freeway when I realize that there is a Michaels right next door to Wal-mart. ARG! But it's too late and I'm forced to get onto the freeway. I drive like two miles to the next exit, get off, turn around, and go back to Michaels. Connor is refusing to sit in a cart now so he is walking and of course what I need is in the far back corner. Well, we get it and get out to the car. I realize I don't have his cup. So back in to Michaels I go. I can't seem to leave a place today in one try. I retrace my steps and find his cup sitting on a shelf. So we leave... again.

I did eventually make it home.

I should be sleeping.

I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately. With the start of the new year, and quite a few anniversaries this time of year for me. It's a good time to look back. So here is a picture of me 2 years ago today. Nine months pregnant with Connor. I spared you and posted the one where I'm wearing a shirt, sorta. Oh, speaking of the new year I wrote the date for the first time today at the doctor's office. (ah... the joys of being a stay at home mom, never needing to know the date.) And when I got to the year I knew that I had to be careful, that I had to do something different. So I wrote '06. lol. '08 seemed so wrong I knew that couldn't be it. Yes, so 2008, I had to force my hand and I felt like someone was going to laugh at me. "look at this loser, thinking it's 2008." I know I'm a little slow at these types of things. The passage of time has never been good for me. But jeeze louise, on 1-30-2006 Connor wasn't even born yet, as you can see.

OH, gosh. I've been forgetting this for like three days now. I'm giving up pizza for the entire month of February. If I lose a significant amount of weight, like 5 pounds, then I'm giving it up forever. Otherwise it will be my life long friend. My pizza guilt will be gone for good. So here is to not losing any weight!

The doctor can't see you now.

Connor has another ear infection. A double one really, but I don't see how that makes any difference. Last night was terrible. He was waking up like every 30 minutes. I also now know that 30 minutes is about exactly the time it takes me to fall asleep. lol. Because every time I would JUST fall asleep and he would start crying. I felt like I was in some sort of deranged sleep experiment or something. Finally at about 4:30 he fell asleep for good. So Larry got an hour of sleep and I got two and a half. fun.

So sometime in the fuzzy haze of last night we decided I was taking him to the doctor today. I have a trick for getting Connor a good sick baby appointment. The phones for Connor's doctor open at 8:00 so I call at like 7:58 and go round and round in the phone tree until they open. That way I am pretty much the first person to get an appointment. Well, thinking that Connor didn't fall asleep til almost 5 am gave me the misleading impression that he would sleep late. So as soon as Maddy left for school I went back to bed. Connor woke up about 20 minutes later. So I missed the chance to do my phone tree trick with the doctor. I know from experience not to even bother at this point. So I got the bright idea to take him to the pediatric urgent care instead. They just opened a new one right by my house and there is never a car there so I figured it wouldn't a very long wait. We head down there at about 8:30. Well, they don't open til 5. Grrr. I know of another pediatric urgent care about 10 miles away but I was afraid they didn't open til late either. It's called "Goodnight pediatrics" so that's kind of a hint. But I start heading over there just in case. On my way over there I try to call my doctor's office to see if I can get him in there. They are booked full. It's only 8:50 am! Then I call Maddy's dr. and they actually have an appointment and can see him at 9:50. I was so excited! They tell me to arrive 30 minutes early. So awesome I go over there and wait.... and wait... and wait. They don't actually see him til almost 11. (I got there at 9:15) I leave with two prescriptions and go to Target. I wait there for 30 minutes. Finally, I get home at 12:15 put Connor down for a nap chock full of Motrin and Amoxocillin. It took me almost 4 hours to take Connor to the dr.! 15 minutes later Maddy got home from school. Oh yeah, its a half day! wohoo... not. All I want to do is take a nap but instead I will spend the afternoon playing Parcheesi and breaking up fights over McDonalds toys.

Oh, and Target has their bathing suits out. Bathing suits?? It's January for christ's sake!

Two fires started that night.

Isn’t that a super cool picture. Larry found it. I love it.

So I figured it out and I think that two years ago on the 26^th was my last day of work. Wow. That is a really long time to go without working. Crazy! And four years ago on the 24^th was our first official date. That seems like forever ago. Soooo much stuff has happened in just four little years. It doesn’t even seem right.

The night Larry asked me out I started a kitchen fire. It’s true. We had been out with a bunch of people and I had Maddy with me so I left early. I went home and put Maddy to bed, started the oven to cook a frozen pizza, and got on the computer. So I’m sitting there waiting for the oven to heat up and out of the corner of my eye I see light coming from the kitchen. I look over there and I can see flames shooting up from the stove. Well, apparently I turned on one of the burners instead of the oven. There were some things sitting on top of the stove, like a bag of chips and a Tupperware container with rolls in it. The Tupperware had melted and then the rolls caught on fire. Which then caught the bag of chips on fire. It was fine, I was able to pick up the Tupperware and put it in the sink, same with the bag of chips. A piece of plastic fell off when I was moving it over to the sink and left a burn mark on the floor, but the complex didn’t even charge me for it. It was just more scary than anything. What was funny is that I was in bed when Lori came home with her friend. I wasn’t asleep but I was laying in bed and I hear…

"What is that smell?"
“Looks like there was a fire!”
“Awww… and I wanted to have a sandwich.”

I was just laying there with my face buried in the pillow.

Who doesn't love a car shaped like a hot dog?

I got a bunch of sickies around here. Larry came home sick on Thursday and Connor came down with it on Friday. Since I have the world’s strongest immune system I avoided getting it. Cause I rock like that.

On Friday I put Connor down for a nap at noon, like usual, and went about my business. At 4:00 I had to leave to bring Maddy to her dad’s house but Connor wasn’t up yet and Larry was working late. I went to go check on him cause four hours is a ridiculously long nap. I just touched his arm a little bit and he was burning up. He ended up sleeping until almost 5:00. I called Larry and he was on his way home so I just waited for him so he could stay with Connor while I took Maddy to her dad’s. But by then the traffic was so bad that it took me an extra half hour to make the trip. Grrr… that is why I like to leave at like 4ish.

I thought briefly about taking the camera with me on the drive. I decided not to since I knew it was just going to be sitting in traffic, nothing exciting. But you know what I saw? The weinermobile!! How frustrating.

I *puffy heart* Sheriff Joe.

I found this link totally by accident but I love it. I love Sheriff Joe. Love him! This is just a list of reasons to love him.

http://community.nurse.com/forums/t/2800.aspx

I especially love his stance on illegal immigrants. He arrests them for trespassing. How awesome is that? He’s the best.

Ok, that’s enough about Sheriff Joe. I might write more later but right now lets talk about TV. Has anyone seen that new game show “The moment of truth”? Its good. It really got my mind working. If you don't know about it, its a game show where they hook the person up to a lie detector and ask them really horrible questions and if they tell the truth they can win money. I consider myself a very honest person. I never lie and I make a conscious effort not to exaggerate. Before the show started I told Larry that I could totally go on that show. Afterwards, no way never ever would I go on there. I really didn’t realize how much we lie by omission. That is just a fact of life. How we all get along with each other. It’s actually sad to think that no one would have any friends if everyone said everything they were thinking. Well… I take that back. Cause a lot of the questions were worded in such a way that you have to answer yes to them, even if that isn’t entirely true. For example, one question was “Do you blame your father for your parent’s divorce.” I don’t know what the lady answered because it’s just on the commercial but I’m assuming she answered yes. I mean, it’s a lie detector test. She might blame her mom more than her dad but if she blames her dad even a little bit then she has to answer yes. Do you get what I’m saying? A lot of the questions were like that.

But either way, it was a disturbing show, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Here we are days later and I’m still thinking about it. I can’t wait for next Wednesday.

I'll buy... or not

What’s worse than a boring physics teacher? A boring physics teacher that stutters. lol. We had a sub on Tuesday and oh my. T-T-T-T-Today, junior! I know that is insensitive… I’m just kidding around. It just got me thinking how torturous it would be to have a professor who had a bad stutter. Like it isn’t bad enough listening to them talk for hours upon hours. Honestly, he was a very nice guy and he barely stuttered at all. Plus, he let us out of class an hour early… so he is my new favorite professor.

I got a new phone! Which is awesome because even though I have two phones they both suck. The first one gets turned to vibrate or silent without me knowing it and it takes me 3 days to figure it out. Oh, and the battery lasts like half an hour. The second one is even worse. I can’t hear the person I’m talking to. Even in a perfectly quiet room. So that kinda puts a damper on the conversation.

So yeah, Lori was getting new service and a phone comes with that, but she already has a fancy phone that she likes and is way nicer than the free ones they give away, (which are more than enough phone for me). So she gave it to me. Yay! She had to pay tax on the phone, which was like $6.00, so I offered to buy her lunch since that was our next stop anyways. Well, we get to Barros and order, but when I go to pay I realize that I don’t have my wallet. Lol. Real nice Ashley! So Lori had to pay. Talk about being a loser. Um.. thanks for my new phone, and the pizza. Haha. I had put my wallet in my school bag so that I didn’t have to carry the diaper bag to school. Makes sense right? But I never put it back. Oh man, that sucked.


Oh yeah… I made Goulash the other night. It was pretty good. The recipe calls for a 14oz can of crushed tomatoes, but Wal-mart was out so I got a small can of tomato sauce instead. Next time I think I’m going to use a large can of tomato sauce and a large can of diced tomatoes, drained well. I don’t think some extra sauce and chunky tomatoes are going to kill it. But here it is…

ok, you know what... I don't have it, I typed it all out up apparently I didn't save it. darn. I don't have time to type it all right now.... Maddy just got home from school so I'll do it later. Maybe tomorrow.

I have such a fast brain.

You know, now that I have had time to reflect Maddy falling last night in the shower I realize that I have a little more to say on the issue. I went running up there I fully expecting to find her hurt. When I turned the corner and could see into the bathroom I could see her blurry shape though the curtain and she was holding her arm. I knew it was broken. It’s funny cause it is literally three steps from the bathroom door to the shower and in the time it took to take those steps I had about a gajillion thoughts. First and foremost I was reminding myself not to freak out when I see her deformed arm. Stay calm. At the same time I was also contemplating the complexities of trying to get a soaking wet and naked girl to the ER. And exactly how was I going to get her there since Larry was at the store with Connor and had taken the van and his car is in the shop (brakes). So I would have had to take the truck, and do I even know where the truck keys are? Besides the fact that I have never driven the truck before. Or maybe if I call Larry right away he can be home with the van before I even finish getting Maddy dressed, and what is the maximum wetness that I can take a child out in the winter?

And then I reached the shower and pulled back the curtain.

“are you ok?”
“I fell.”
“I know, I heard. Is anything broken?”
“No.”
“well then.” Kiss “you’ll live.”

Oh and speaking of Larry's car being in the shop. It needed brakes, it was making a horrible noise and brakes are one of those things you can't put off. Not like, lets say, the air bag light that has been on for the past 2 years. So we take it down to Midas for their $99 brake special. You know the one, the one they charge you $160 for. Yeah, they also said it would be done last night. Ummm yeah. Larry is picking it up on his way home from work today. Cheap and speedy. *enter eye roll here*

Crash Boom Bang

I need to buy Maddy some clothes. I am so entirely sick of looking at her in clothes that don’t fit properly. When she sits down I’m not exaggerating when I say that there are four inches of skin showing. Everyone can see the first inch of her butt crack and then half way up her back. Seriously, I can’t take it anymore. Today she came down in a shirt that is too small. I didn’t notice it at first but she just sat down next to me on the couch and was facing away and there it was… half her back hanging out. GRRR. I told her to go change her shirt and to throw the shirt she was wearing away. She got all emotional about it. “Bye shirt! sniff sniff” But jeeze, she doesn’t even like that shirt. She hasn’t worn it in like a year.

Oh, she also informed me that she isn’t going to argue with me today. lol. Yeah right!

She takes her own showers now. She does it all by herself, which is so nice. It takes her an hour but whatever. She is so funny. The bathroom is right next to Connor’s room and I can hear her over his monitor. She sings and talks non stop. You would swear someone was up there with her. Also, at least once during the shower she slips and every toy, soap, and shampoo bottle come crashing down. It makes quite the ruckus. Today after she fell she was crying so I go running up there, hoping she wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t, but that didn’t stop her from crying for a half hour.

But Mommy!

Maddy got a friendship bracelet making kit for Christmas. It’s really cool. I made two bracelets last night with it, and it took me 4 hours. It wasn’t my intention to spend so long doing it but first I had to measure out 32 strings and tie them together in two bundles. One for me and one for Maddy. Then get them set up in this wheel thing that keeps them all separated and organized. Maddy couldn’t really do it. I mean, she could, and she did for a while but then she got confused and bored. So after I finished mine I finished hers for her. Oh man, the tops of my shoulders were killing me by the end. Four hours hunched over this little foam wheel, moving strings around. Ouchies.

Maddy went to bed two hours early tonight. I let her go to the park with her friend (and her friend’s grandma) and she came home with quite the attitude. Arguing over every single thing I said. Finally, I told her if she argues again she is going to her room for the rest of the night. Larry told me later than in his head he gave her 15 minutes before she was in her room. She didn’t even make it that long. She argued with me over what season we can go swimming in. Yeah, that is why she got sent to her room. For insisting that we go swimming in the spring, rather than in the summer. lol. That seems like pretty harsh punishment, but there is only so much a person can take. And then came the crocodile tears and the apologies. Maddy is the embodiment of the saying “Your not sorry for doing it, you are sorry that you got caught.”

Wouldn't that be cool?

So they did take back my extra Physics book. Phew.

Maddy made me laugh. I have been having her wake up with the alarm for the past week or so. It's totally selfish, if she gets up herself I can sleep in for an extra 15 minutes. But hey, at some point she has to learn to wake up with an alarm right? Anyways, she comes down stairs and says
"Mommy. My alarm is broken."
"Really" And I'm thinking how could that be, cause here you stand, dressed and ready for school.
"Well, I'm still tired."

lol. What did she think? I guess she took me pretty literally when I said "It will wake you up in the morning." haha. What a silly girl.

If I read it twice will I be extra smart?

I just looked and I'm almost to 200 hits! Maybe today, but probably tomorrow. So, thank you guys for that. I looked and it took me 6 weeks to get 100 hits and then only 4 weeks to get the next hundred. So yay!

Ok, enough of that. So ya'll know I started school. No big secret there. Well, weeks ago I had bought 2 text books online. One came right away and the other one never did. We never even got an email saying the book had shipped or anything. So Larry emails the guy but doesn't get a response. So I couldn't wait anymore for it. I have homework due today, I needed the book. So yesterday I go down to the school book store and get the very last copy they have. Do I even need to tell you what was in the mail box when I got home? UG. I'm so pissed. So now I have two copies of "Conceptual Physics, ninth edition". blah, I don't even want one copy of it. I'm taking the one I got at the book store back tonight. They better take it back!

But on my way to the book store yesterday I saw a car on the freeway. (obviously!) A guy was driving and in the back was a lady sitting next to an infant car seat. And in the car seat was the tiniest little pink bundle. Clearly they were coming home from the hospital, cause sitting in the back seat with the baby gets old quick. It was very cute. So congrats to them!

I also saw a white SUV with two little boys in the back. One had the window rolled down and was holding a little metal airplane out the window like it was flying. It was soooo cute. I wish I had been able to get a picture of that.

Oh, and I made that Vodka Cream Pasta again. This time I only put a quarter cup of vodka in it cause that was all I had. Damn opaque bottles! Anyways, it was still very good. Not quite the... I don't know... Zing that it had with a full cup of vodka, but still very good. Next time I think I'm going to go with a half cup.

School

Well, I’m a teeny tiny bit smarter than I was for my last blog. I hope everyone can keep up. :) Yeah, I went to school last night. It was good. I’m still enthusiastic. Both my professors seem very nice. I was a tad surprised by my Physics professor. He is much younger and more laid back than I expected. Which is good. My Religions professor on the other hand is exactly what you would expect, complete with white beard and button up cardigan sweater vest, unbuttoned of course. He seems very nice. A total hippie. He even swears in class. Always refreshing!

What I didn’t realize was how odd it will be to take these two classes at the same time. My Physics teacher was saying how physics deals with the ‘who, what, where, and how…. Not the why’. “leave the why to religion” he said. Weird… cause that is where I’m going after this, I thought. So it’s interesting, I will be getting the whole bundle this semester. Not only how the world works, but why. Hmmm…. I should be a full on genius in about 13 weeks.

Ok, well enough about that. I debated whether to write about this or not. I’m mad at myself. Remember my orchid that I was so happy about. How it bloomed. Remember how I said there was another bloom ready to go? Well, I killed that one. Just the bloom, I left it outside and it got too cold. But that isn’t what I’m mad about. There was yet ANOTHER bud that DID bloom. And I was looking at it, I wanted to get a clear view so I tried to turn the branch towards me and…. snap! Isn’t that depressing? I broke of the whole branch off. That branch had probably 6 more buds waiting to go. Sigh. I suck. I should never be allowed near another living thing.

L is for leek

Mesa Community College makes me pregnant. Lol. Well, I’ve taken two semesters there over the past 7 years, and I got pregnant both times. In 2000, I took two classes. Psychology and Art History. I got pregnant with Maddy and didn’t return until 2005 when she was old enough to go to the daycare they have there. I took, Sociology and Economics. I got pregnant with Connor and didn’t go back. Maybe I should have taken Sex Ed. Haha. Do they teach that in college? I don’t know. But anyways, I start school again today. I’m taking Physics and World Religions. Hopefully no one will knock me up.

Connor is learning his letters. He is so interested in them. My brother in law got him this toy that goes on the fridge. It has all the letters as magnets and you can take the letters and put them into the base and it says the name of the letter and the sound it makes. I hope that all made sense. Anyways, Connor loves it. He even knows a few of the letters. He gets confused with “T”. He thinks it’s an “I”. And what is even funnier about it is that he will point to his ear when he says it. And he says it so sure of himself. It’s like he is scolding you. “I” he yells while looking you dead in the eye and pointing to his ear.

So I made a new recipe last night. It was pretty good. It is Flank Steak and BLT mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were great. The flank steak was just ok. Well, I couldn’t find “flank steak” so I just got something else. Maybe that was the problem. I don’t know but here is the recipe and if the potatoes look/ sound good to you then try them cause they were yummy. On second thought I’m just going to put the recipe for the potatoes and that’s it. Less typing and the flank steak didn’t turn out that good anyways.

BLT mashed potatoes

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Ingredients

1-1.5 pounds small new red-skinned potatoes
1 leek, trimmed of tough tops
4 slices thick-cut smoky bacon
1 small can diced tomatoes, well drained
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper

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Directions

1. Cut larger potatoes in half, leave very small potatoes whole. Place potatoes in a small pot and cover with water. Cover pot. Bring water to a boil, remove lid, then cook potatoes until tender. 12 to 15 minutes.

Cut leek in half lengthwise. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces. (not the tops, throw those out) Place leeks into a bowl of water and swish, separating the layers, to release the dirt. Drain leeks in a strainer.

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of evoo and the bacon. Cook bacon until it begins to crisp and has rendered most of its fat, 3 to 5 minutes. (Ashley here: It doesn't say to cut the bacon first but next time I am going to chop it up first. Scissors make it easy. I think I will also cook it a little longer too) Add leeks and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and heat them through, about one minute.

Drain potatoes and return them to the hot pot. Smash potatoes with sour cream and the BLT mixture. (bacon, leeks, and tomatoes) Season with salt and pepper.

B.I.N.G.O.

I went to bingo tonight. First off, did you know that you are not allowed to take pictures in a casino? Well I didn’t. Luckily I got a few shots in before I learned this great piece of information.

Old ladies are funny. Man oh man are there some serious bingo players in the world. This lady here was hard core. Notice that she has 750 dobbers and she is using an electronic bingo machine. lol. That made us all laugh. The fact that electronic bingo machines even exist is something else entirely. And I don’t think the troll manufactures would even have a market if it weren’t for the bingo playing blue hairs of the world. Old ladies are funny to me but I am not funny to them. The dirty looks we got! I guess we were being a little two chatty for them. There is no room for fun at Bingo! I feel like casinos are fun places. When I think of a casino I assume people are having fun there. But really if you look around it doesn’t seem like anyone is having any fun at all. No one is smiling, or really even talking to one another. They are just sitting there giving their money away. It’s odd.

I didn't win anything, despite my very best dobbing. No one in our group won anything. It's ok though, I went to have fun. And I did. So in the end, I suppose I did win.

He's not even 2 yet!

Connor has been infected with a horrible condition. He has caught a case of the terrible twos. It’s true! The first symptom we noticed was confusion. He insists he is “all done” with his meal but when I try to get him down from the table he then cries because he wants to eat. This disease must affect brain function. It migrated from there to the voice box. It seems he has no control over the volume of his voice and his vocabulary has been reduced to only one word. “NO!”. Unfortunately, there is no cure. We simply have to let it run it’s course, which experts say could take up to 2 years. I’ve heard at it’s worst it can cause full body meltdowns which are triggered by the slightest bit of frustration. I might have to quarantine him until he is 4.

But seriously, transitions are hard for everyone, at any age. Going from a baby to kid is a big deal. Figuring out you have a voice and choices. Things you like and things you don’t like. It’s an interesting time for a little guy. Then you have rules of society that you are still figuring out. When you can be loud and when you have to be quiet. When it’s ok to throw a ball and when it isn’t. When you can run free and when you must sit still. It’s hard. I know the transition from kid to grown up is even harder and takes longer. I just finished mine the other day.

Nothing much.

See the smoke? Isn't that cool? I know not the safest thing in the world but I was on the on ramp and I wasn't going very fast. Promise.

Connor hasn't been sleeping well which really throws everything all off. If he takes a short nap not only does that mean that he is around more, it also means that he is cranky. Which quadruples my work load. And he hasn't been sleeping well at night either. Which means I haven't been sleeping well at night. So have four times the work on half the sleep.

Maddy has been doing wonderfully! She got her report card and everything is at a meets for her grade level except for being able to sound out words. On that she is above grade level. How great! But really, even better news is that she has fallen asleep two nights in a row without sucking her thumb. I am SO proud of her. That was our biggest hurdle. The actual falling asleep part. She worked really hard to stop. I'm very excited for her. I'm starting to hope that we will not be getting the device from the orthodontist.

So what if I'm obessed with food?

I didn't do to much today. I got up at 7:00 to get Maddy ready for school. I find it incredibly interesting that for two solid weeks I didn't have to get up at any particular time and Connor woke up early every day. Today, I had to get up at 7:00 no matter what and he slept til 8:15. Annoying! But it gave me a chance to get my grocery list put together. So me and Connor braved the rain and went grocery shopping. At the store I saw a tomato that was covered in stickers. You know those stickers that have the number on them so the cashier can ring it up? Those stickers. It made me laugh and I wished I had a camera with me. I would have put the picture right here ----->. So I have devised a plan to carry a camera with me from now on. Funny how the million photo opps of my kids that I have missed hasn't motivated me to carry a camera in the diaper bag. But a missed pic of a funny tomato does. That's kinda sad actually.



I have a new recipe. I know I JUST posted a new one the other day but, dang, I can't stop myself. I'm that good! lol. Anyone who has known me for more than a year can see the total irony in that statement. :) As you can see, I've decided to start taking pics of the food I make. It's just cooler that way. Plus I hope it motivates you to make it yourself when you can see how awesome it is. lol. But this was delicious! Larry said it is the best thing I have ever made. I really didn't think I would ever hear that. He loves the Baked Ziti so much. He did go on from there to say how you can't mess up a chicken sandwich but I'm choosing to cut that part of the comment out of my mind. :) Let's just stick with the fact that it was the best thing I've ever made. Ok, so here it is.... Enjoy!

Honey-Lime Chicken Sandwiches

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 rounded teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon steak seasoning

4 crusty rolls, split

Topping

lettuce

sliced tomato

sliced red onion

sliced avocado

1 cup prepared salsa

Directions

1. Combine lime juice, honey, cumin, cilantro, and olive oil in a small bowl to make marinade. Sprinkle chicken with seasoning blend or salt and pepper. Coat chicken in marinade and set aside for 10 minutes.

Grill chicken, or pan fry over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet, uncovered, 6 minutes per side.

Slice grilled chicken on an angle and pile on roll bottoms. Top with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and sliced avocado. Spread salsa on roll tops.

Blooms

Something in my care actually bloomed! That’s a first. Well, other than my children of course. But kids are easy, they cry if you don’t feed them. Even as I write this I had to stop to make some chicken nuggets. I had a little blond boy at my feet saying “eat, eat”. It is then that I realized it was 40 minutes past dinner time. Oops. Where was I? Oh yeah, my orchid. I got it for free at this new grocery store near my house. They were giving away flowers, how cool is that? But anyways, this orchid had four flowers. And now it has five. There is another one that looks like it might bloom too. That is if I can remember to put it outside once in a while.

Maddy played outside today by herself. I guess she is old enough. The rules are: Stay in the cul-de-sac, watch for cars, and never ever go in anyone’s house under any circumstances. She wanted to go ask her friend a few houses over to come out and play. I was watching her from the window. I’m not exaggerating when I say it took her 20 minutes to work up the courage to knock on the door. She came back home three times for some moral support. We even practiced. Finally, she knocked and the little girl came out to play. Success!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I'm on my annual diet. I will stay on this diet til March and lose 10 pounds. Then I will get frustrated and quit. I will then spend the rest of the year gaining and losing the same five pounds until the holidays. At which point I will totally give up and gain 10. Rinse and repeat.

Winter break

Well, winter break is almost over and I'm happy to report that Maddy didn't drive me crazy. She had two weeks off from school. I was dreading it to be honest. That is 10 days of being home alone with two kids. One of them being very bored and used to having lots of kids to talk to. But the first week Larry was home on Monday and then Tuesday was Christmas and then she went to her dad's until Sunday night. Then the second week Larry was home Monday and Tuesday. So really out of the 10 days it was only 3 days that I had both kids home alone. Not too bad. The first two days we went to the park and then out to lunch. Then Friday Maddy had a doctors appointment and then I went to school to find my classrooms and buy my books. It was actually kinda nice having her home. We spent some good time together and I'm sad to see her go back to school on Monday.

I made two things from my new cookbook this week and in my opinion one out shines the other. So here it is. We got some fresh sour dough bread from the store to go with it and it was YUMMY.

Vodka Cream Pasta

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Ingredients

12 oz Pene

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 cup vodka

1 cup chicken broth

28 oz crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn

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Directions

1. Put a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta. When the water boils, add salt and penne. Cook according to package directions to al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add evoo, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute garlic and shallots, 3 to 5 minutes, to develop their sweetness. Add vodka and cook to reduce by half, 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble, then reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir cream into the vodka sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove from heat. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Serve immediately.

nighty night

Connor is sleeping with a blanket for the first time. Every day I get closer to putting him in a toddler bed and for some reason I feel like if your sleeping in a real bed then you should be able to use a blanket. I went in and checked on him and he still has it on. Of course he was wiped out and fell asleep immediately so he didn't really have time to roll around and get uncovered. Once he is in a big boy bed I am worried about weather or not he will stay in a bed. Why not get out and play with toys? My hope is that when he wakes up at the butt crack of dawn he will just play in his room for a while and let me sleep. What do you think the chances of that are? Slim, I'm sure.

Speaking of sleeping changes, we are tying to get Maddy to stop sucking her thumb. I read online that 99% of thumb suckers stop by age 5. This was not the case for Maddy. I always knew she was special! Now that she is getting her grown-up teeth I really feel like it is time to stop. I talked to my orthodontist and he agreed with me. I would like to note that he is one of the few people who agree with me on this issue. Anyways, we have been putting band-aids on her thumbs at night to remind her not to suck them. It's going ok. Not great, not terrible. Just ok. At this point we are rewarding her after 3 consecutive days of not sucking. We are going to get slushies. If she can make it to that goal, then I will move the reward to 5 days, then longer and longer. We'll see how it goes. First we need to make it to 3 days.