Some random things...random meaning not related, but as usual, long winded

After messaging with an old friend from high school about supper for tonight I got to thinking about what other people cook, etc.  Not that I'm into comparing in the sort of "I'm better than you because I don't ever cook the same meal twice" type thing because that is just laughable (or rather the woman who spouts this is on a baby site I used to frequent is), but wondering if my idea of a quick, easy dinner is really that far fetched or different from what others consider "quick & easy".

For example, tonight we had what I thought was an "easy dinner".  I made chicken breasts with a cranberry maple pan sauce, white rice & broccoli.  Basically, I butterflied 3 HUGE breasts & cut them into strips, dredged them in seasoned flour (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder), browned them in a pan with an olive oil & butter mixture, removed them to a plate in the oven after browning and then deglazed the frying pans with a mixture of white wine, chicken broth & red wine vinegar.  Added in a can of jellied cranberry sauce, about a half cup of real maple syrup, some more chicken stock, tablespoon of brown sugar, pepper and let that reduce a bit before I put the chicken back in the pans and let it simmer while the rice & frozen broccoli cooked.  I did forget to use some cayenne pepper though so there was a kick missing for me.  I even used Uncle Ben's converted white rice so it takes like all of 20 minutes on the stove top.  This meal is a favorite of every one's so maybe that is why I don't think it is a big deal.  The funny thing is that the first time I made it, I was just shooting from the hip (using a recipe that had the same flavors/ingredients, but was meant for grilling).  

Ok, so tell me the truth?  Does that sound really difficult? (I'm being honest...I really want to know)

I have to admit that cooking meals that my family loves makes me feel good about being a mom.  Perhaps it is because I don't have a job that brings home the bacon anymore.  For so long I have taken care of children & a hubby (I've been a SAHM for over 14 years!!) that praise for my cooking, laundry or cleaning skills has become my paycheck.  I don't get much praise in the cleaning department (not my favorite) and I'm usually a day late & a dollar short in the laundry department (the basement is my getaway, but it has been pretty cold down there), but I enjoy trying to shine in the cooking which may make my outlook a bit different from others I guess.  I bake cookies & cakes from scratch often and don't even think about it much.  It is just part of who I am...or part of who I am when I am being a good wife & mom.  I want to mention again that NEVER do I look at others and think that they aren't a good parent if they aren't into cooking or baking, but sometimes I get the feeling that just by doing the things I do, it makes others feel badly.  Does that make sense?

And another totally random thought...I've been thinking about my SIL again lately.  She posted one of those random questions notes that has been going around facebook.  I checked to see if I tagged her in mine (I didn't.) because she labeled hers as "The stupid questions everyone keeps tagging me to answer".  She seemed a bit defensive on the whole and I kept thinking why do it if you're not interested?  The thing that struck me was this was like the second time she has mentioned hating insecurities.  Generally her insecurities happen to involve me as mine involve her much of the time.  I'm not sure if I should step foot into that arena.  We've been drama free for awhile and I'm getting better at knowing when I should speak my mind and when I should shut up (BIG progress for me...I'm not good at shutting up).  I keep thinking that if she has an issue with me, she eventually come to me and share.  I really don't have the energy right now to "shore up" anyone.  I am of the belief that if no one says anything to me about things than everything must be fine.  Is this normal?  Again, totally serious question.  Relationships with other women have really confused me in the past so I feel like such a newbie in this area.

Random thought number 3 (and 4 too).  I have two teenagers whom I love dearly.  I have two elementary aged boys whom I love dearly.  I have two preschool aged children whom I love dearly.  Why oh why do they drive me up the effing wall?  And when will this darn, stinking cough go away?  Really - it is the pee your pants type cough.  If I didn't have thirty thousand pairs of undies, I might have purchased some Depends last night.

That is all folks...enough randomness for the day....I have to go change my underwear :oP

My heart melted

Just had to share that Em may be turning from being a mighty little tank to a somewhat girly girl....

She received a baby doll & stroller from hubby's parents on Christmas. She also had one at home that she received from us last year. I decided to pull out the cloth moses basket that I bought for her to sleep in when she was born so that she could use it for her babies. I also wrapped her babies up like little burritos in little fleece receiving blankets and put them to sleep for her when I put the moses basket together.

Yesterday as I sat transfixed at my computer, she came in (her toys & clothes are still in our room even though she sleeps in the boys' room) and I watched her out of the corner of my eye while she wrapped up her baby (like a burrito) and cooed softly to it. I thought my heart would melt all over the floor.

It amazed me how she learned so fast and how "mother like" she was at the ripe old age of 2 and a half years old.

Musings of a tired mom....that's me

I really don't have too much to write about. Funny how chaperoning two teenagers will make you feel like you've done a year end closing for a big company. I am wiped today. I cannot wait for the 4 youngest to be bathed & in bed!

Sooooo....here I am as a mom dealing with my first serious boyfriend/girlfriend thing. J & A are, from what I've gathered from J, pretty serious. So serious that he was hoping to take her over to hubby's parents to meet them & hubby's grandmother tonight while Bec has dance. She seems like a very nice girl and I haven't seen or heard anything that would make me feel different. I do give them their space for the most part. I don't mind if they are laying on the couch together napping or hugging or kissing (no make out sessions...ewww). Seeing how there are two little people who run around all afternoon, there definitely isn't much time to get into trouble in a common room of the house.

I also have done something I said I never would. I invited A. to sleep over on Sat. evening as we are having a game night w/family & friends. J also invited his best friend, AM, over to sleep. I am hoping that I do not regret the decision, but I really don't think I will. J is pretty respectful of the boundaries we've laid down and I don't think either of them are ready to explore a sexual relationship (again, what I've gathered from J).

Other than that, nothing is really new(s) here. Money is tighter than we've experienced in many years, but we're getting by and I trust that God will provide for our needs like He always has in the past. I'm just pluggin' along and trying to keep my head above water while keeping the house cleaned, the laundry caught up and the kiddos in line. I've noticed that when I am doing a decent job in these areas, I really don't have time to be online playing. It makes me sad because I feel out of the loop, but I know from past experience how important it is for me to keep "real life" going smoothly especially this time of year when I am most prone to slipping into a "bad" place mentally.

So far so good...now onto bedtime :)))))

Boston in late fall - Another blessing is added

It's been a long time since I've blogged. Life certainly has a way of getting in the way of the things I want to do.

I had another glorious trip to meet my girlfriends in Boston except this time I was even more lucky because I got to bring along my eldest daughter and she got to meet these friends that I talk about with anyone who will listen to me fawn all about them.

My daughter and I are the same in many ways. We are goofy, love to laugh until we howl, love to take silly pictures of ourselves, love to shop and generally have a great time together. In other ways, my daughter has things figured out SO much better than I did at her age. She is confident in herself and what she believes in. She may be dingy sometimes (which is actually quite endearing), but no one is going to mess with her more than once. She thinks too much of herself for that kind of crap, and for that, I am SO thankful.

So of course when we arrived at the hotel, I immediately had to find where everyone was "meeting" because I had hugs and hugs and hugs & even some kisses stored up and ready to give. I was so happy we didn't hit the usual mad traffic on the highway and we pretty much sailed right up. We found "the room" and the love that hit me in the face as soon as the door opened was absolutely delightful! I was awed that nothing changed. Time and space had done nothing to diminish the love these beautiful, talented, wonderous women have for me and the rest of their friends. What astounded me even more was that in turn they showered Bec with the same affection. How kind they all were to her - a mere 14 yo child - during what is most definitely a child free time.

My daughter was surprised by their easy manner and their immediate generosity towards her. She loved everyone, but was most taken with Sophie. Sophie was also there on a mother-daughter jaunt although their jaunt was a bit more extensive than ours. ;) Becca loved Sophie from the instant she opened her mouth. She loved her outspoken way and her accent and just about everything else. In fact, when Sophie left us at dinner on Saturday evening for a night out with George, Becca mumbled that she didn't like George too much and wished Sophie could have come back to the hotel with us instead. :)))) I understood her disappointment, but she did ok back at the hotel eating Lindt truffles and refilling the wrappings with paper to fool her friends back at school while we got to host a few brave women back in our room.

I wish she could have met G...and Michelle...and NewMichelle (who really isn't new anymore) and Jackie. I wish we could have ALL been there although I must say I could certainly feel their spirits hanging out with us. Someday all the LFFs will be together again. I don't know when or where or how, but I know if it is within my power to make it happen, I will do whatever it takes. These women are not just my friends, they are my sisters. They are part of who I am...part of my soul. Each one of them is important to me and their friendships make me wonder how in the world I got so lucky that this group of women got together on the internet, became friends and then picked a city so close to me that I've got to hang out with them twice. Seriously.Mind.Blowing.

Now we are home and back to the same old, same old, but the nice thing is that we're didn't come back the same as when we went. We came back with SO much more...new friends, lots of love and more memories to hold in our hearts that are great to pull out when things aren't going so well. Knowing there are women out there who are the best cheerleaders, wittiest jokesters and the epitome of what friends should be can get you through just about anything.

I love you guys...and so does Becca :)

WTF?!

Headline on Google News:
Florida Teen Commits Suicide Live on Webcam

Are you kidding me?!
And it took 12 flippin' hours for someone to alert authorities and have them check the kid out who was of course dead by that point.

The real kicker? People laughed at the live feed. Laughed. The amount of hard heartedness in this world astonishes me on a daily basis. How can you laugh when someone has died? Even someone you didn't know. How? How can a heart be so cold to someone's obvious sadness and lack of hope especially when the person is TELLING YOU WHILE STARING INTO A FREAKIN' WEBCAM? This type of thing makes my heart hurt.

Whether I know someone or not, I still feel a human connection. A deep down connection that, for me, has to be from the Master Creator. A tie that binds us all together, if you will. We are all part of the same human race and while I believe that there are evil doers among us, for the most part, I think we all strive for the same things in life. We all want happiness, love, someone to pick us up when we fall...

I just cannot fathom what went through the minds of the people/teenagers who sat there watching and doing nothing and then laughing when it was apparent this young man was dead. If nothing else, I believe that karma catches up eventually...whether it be here on this earth or on the day of judgement...how you treat others is how you will be treated.

Mmmmm, Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. Yes I do. Wanna know why?

I love brining my turkey. Thank you Alton Brown for giving me a clue. I don't think I will ever NOT brine my turkey (who is actually happily in my freezer right now waiting for his salty bath next week!) It is so worth the extra prep work...really, you should try it if you haven't before.

I love cornbread stuffing. Thank you to The Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten for the most fabulous recipe on earth. It's ok that I have to quadruple it because it came from your T-Dinner for Two episode. It's THAT good and I don't mind doing it.

I love finger jello. No, no...not those dumb "jiggler" thingamabobs...those are disgusting. No, FINGER JELLO. The kind you "pass" like a football at the Thanksgiving table. It is tradition and you can't break tradition! Thank you to my sister for teaching me the fine art of finger jello passing. :)

Black olives. Love these. Love to buy the JUMBO olives and put them on every finger. Yes, this happens at the table too. Jeremy & Becca usually do the same. You guessed it...another tradition!

Pumpkin pie. Do I need to say more?! The youngest boys love helping me put one together and everyone loves to eat it except for hubby. That's ok. We make him a banana cream.

Lemon Meringue. I make it. Not as good as my Mom's used to be, but Thanksgiving doesn't seem complete with out it. My SIL Kathy and I love it...tart as tart can be. Needless to say, this pie I bring to my IL's for dessert.

I love stuffed celery. YUM! Cream cheese & green olive stuffing, thank you very much.

Broccoli casserole. Ok, so this isn't my favorite. It is Jeremy & Chris' favorite though and again, it is tradition.

Ahhhh, party potatoes. Yes, starch is my world. I love party potatoes. This is a recipe from Chris' nana. Boiled whipped potatoes mixed with cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder dotted with butter and baked in the oven. DIVINE!

Gravy, turnip, butternut squash & cranberry sauce....wouldn't be the same without them!

And the crowning glory of the meal is the homemade potato crescent rolls with homemade honey butter.

Yep, can't understand why I am falling asleep before the meal is over...it couldn't be the CARB overload, could it? It is good that this meal only happens once per year. I mean, it is so much food that I have to use the buffet with hot plates because the table simply isn't big enough! Once per year I cook for a week and it's over within an hour!

And let's not forget the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without seeing the giant Snoopy flying past! Someday I'm going to give up the cooking for once and see the parade in person. It's on my list of things to do before I die.

So if anyone is up for CARB overload and wants to come share a meal with us crazies here in the Quiet Corner, let me know...there are still 3 leaves stored in the table that I can pull out in a pinch!

Goofiness is totally under-rated

I think goofiness is under-rated. Why? Well because it makes you laugh. You can laugh at yourself and your friends/family and it's all good because, well, it's goofy.

I am an extremely goofy person around my hubby & kiddos. I tone it down quite a bit around others because I don't want anyone to think that I am very weird. Although, since meeting the best friends a girl could ever have this past summer, I have started to let little pieces of me that I've hidden from others shine through. I'm not ready to go public on Facebook with how goofy I am, but I figure here is a good start.

First off, I like to take goofy pictures...especially of my daughter Becca. In fact, she is the best person in the house to be goofy with and she embraces her goofiness which I think ROCKS. She in turn likes to take goofy pictures of herself...or just self portraits.

So on Halloween, we were both pretty punchy and silly - even before the candy. Here are a few of our goofy selves....

Taking pictures of Becca with an upside down camera from the front seat while Chris is driving

And here are a few self portraits that Bec took of herself while we were saying our goodbyes to our old neighbor.

And yes...even I joined in and had a ball while doing it. Silly self portraits of yours truly while driving in the car on Halloween night.

And the ultimate goofy pictures of me....

Yep. I'm goofy. And damn proud of it!