Did you get some?

Tonight was 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins. I've started a tradition with BabyK, that we go every year for this event. The rest of the town does too apparently because we waited in line for 40 minutes! But, it is yummy ice cream and it is for a good cause, so not so bad. I even saw some friends we knew and made some new friends and perhaps even made some enemies as BabyK was rather cranky because it got to be past his bedtime. By that point I decided if we waited 30 minutes, what are a couple more?

So, after the wait when we finally got our ice cream it was extra yummy. I got Love Potion No. 31 and BabyK got some sort of blue thing. Yummy!


Just call him "smurf."

Bento No. 9

Left: Cucumber salad, green peppers, carrots, oranges.
Right: Mixed veggies, mac & cheese

Yes, it's all about the leftovers for tomorrow my friends.

And on to random thoughts!

It is about that time that we beging the very terrifying task of potty training. I've been introducing BabK to the toilet, and he knows that is where poo poo and pee pee go. He has a little potty seat with Elmo on it that he LOVES. Now, we just got to figure out how to get the pee pee and poo poo in the potty and not all over his crib. So, I got him a book. It's call the "Potty Train" and the tag line is "Chuga chuga chuga chug Pooooo Poooo!" hahahahahahaha. Cracks me up.

Had my annual review at work and it went well. Yipee!

Oh, we also went to the grocery store. The new bagelfuls were on super sale since they are new so I stocked up. We tried them last week and they are yummy and easy to make and not too terribly awful for you. Did I mention they were super easy to make? Too bad I only had one coupon for them. Boo hoo. I love coupons.

Bento No. 8 (and random toughts)

Bento No. 8
Top: Leftover ravioli (LOVE Bertoli bag dinners! - well, when they are on sale and I have a coupon), carrot sticks and cheese.
Bottom: Cucumber salad and orange piece.
Side: Ritz crackers.

So, had the yard sale. As predicted, it was hard with BabyK there. He kept trying to take the toys BACK inside the house. Doh! After about an hour I gave up and packed everything in the car and headed to Goodwill.

I got a letter in the mail today. An actual, written on paper letter. I love letters, and thing everyone should write more of them. Writing them helps us remember how to form complete sentences since the internet has allowed us to do such horrid things like "lol" and "idk" and other random things you would never write in a real letter. They are also wonderful for the receiver, knowing someone took time out of their day to write it and mail it.

Ugh...the news is on. It's so depressing. Stop telling me how horrible the world is! Gas is $4/gallon, the recession will be worse than anyone thought, more people dead...isn't there some happy news they can report on? Really, telling me how poor everyone is going to be does not help me get to my happy place.

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Eight

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Eight
April 25th, 2008

Appetizer - Name something you would categorize as weird.
Having babies. It's like little aliens in you...but worth it.

Soup - What color was the last piece of food you ate?
Red (pasta sauce)

Salad - On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?
3. It's okay sometimes, but I prefer to be around other people.

Main Course - Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.
I will of course vote for someone in 2008.

Dessert - Describe your sleeping habits.
I am NOT a morning person.

Yard sale here we come!

Yes, so I am having a yard sale. Not a ton of stuff, but enough it won't fit in one carload to Goodwill, so yard sale it is! I made some lovely signs and put them up tonight on our evening walk. I took the stroller to keep BabyK in place while putting them up and Riley was jumping up and down so much I took him too. BOY, was that fun. Every single time I put up a flyer he peed on it while I was taping it down. What a good dog...

I'll try to remember to take photos of the actual sale tomorrow. It's gonna be hard since BabyK originally was supposed to be with his daddy. Might have problems selling some of the toys with him there...

Bento No. 7

Left: Colby Jack cheese, carrot sticks and strawberries with little plastic divider things.

Center: The lid and some ritz crackers for the cheese.

Right: Rigatoni noodles tossed with catalina dressing.

Maybe I'll be rethinking that bike idea...

When I got home a friend let me borrow a bike so I took it for a little spin. I only went like 3-4 miles, but I am POOPED! I would seriously have to get in better shape for biking before it would become a main source of transportation. Not only would I be carrying me, but add another 30 pounds due to Keeler...ouch! haha. I could hop on a bus since they have bike racks on the front, and then just ride from the station to work.

On the plus side, I found someone who owns and electric bike! It is a friend of a friend and hopefully they can tell me all about the electric bike so I can make a wise decision. However, after going up a couple of really long, steep hills I think I would really have enjoyed an electric bike right about then...

Bento No. 6

Bento No. 6 is comprised of:

Left: Oranges, strawberries and those darn green beans again in a silicon cup.

Right: Carrot sticks, milkyway bites and PB&J (which I haven't had in forever, so I am looking forward to it!)

I've just been too busy to make anything that takes longer than 2 minutes to throw together.

Tonight I went to dinner with fellow members of a local group. We meet bi-monthly. It is my goal (we'll see how it goes...) to not go out to eat until our next meeting in June. Sounds like a good goal to me.

Oh, and we didn't watch ANY television today. Wheee! We don't watch a ton as it is since I get like three channels, but today I made a point not to turn it on.

To bike or not to bike? That is the question...

So, in the whole wave of panic in that gas is nearly $4/gallon, I have been contemplating getting a bicycle and trying to use that as transportation.

Problem #1:
I don't have a bike.

Solution for #1:
Well, I looked on freecycle and craigslist and no go. So then I went on wal-mart, and boy are there a lot of bikes! And they aren't too expensive either!

Some of my favorites:

Schwinn Meridian Adult Tricycle
Gets excellent reviews, I could use it to go grocery shopping and one review says you can easily add a child seat. Bad? No gears. =( Another bad? I don't think a 3wheeler would go easily on a trunk rack if I wanted to transport it.


A two-wheeled option. Very retro, yet has gears. Also very affordable.

Problem #2:
I have BabyK.

Solution for #2:
Saturday I was at a garage sale and got a kid carrier for $1!!!! Retails for about $50. It looks like this one:


Problem #3:
I HAVE to drive about 20 miles/day. That's a lot on a bike, especially with some of the hills and traffic.

Solution to #3:


How cool is this bike? When you get tired you can just turn on the electric motor. But is it worth the price?? There are cheaper bikes (not tricycles) that are also electric but the reviews aren't as good.

Lots of pondering to do, but perhaps a portion of my rebate check will go towards something that I can save money with. But, will I actually use it after I get it? That is what makes me really wish I could find a bike on freecycle so I can test out my idea before investing a ton of money. Because in addition to the cost of the bike, you have to get helmets for both me and BabyK.

Ah, decisions decisions. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Bento No. 5

Bentolicious No. 5 - dedicated to the Dooleybug haha =)

Top: Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie and Green Beans
Bottom: Orange slices, apple pieces and some strawberries

Today was an absolute gorgeous day outside. First we met up with "V" and her mommy and daddy for a playdate at the park. It was a lovely time! Then off to the LeMoyne Art in the Park Festival. There was so much I wanted to take home with me! I also saw a ton of people I knew there. Nap and then off to the park again for a walk, this time with Riley in tow so he could get out and enjoy the sunshine also. (Although I am sure he enjoyed sleeping on the couch while we were away too...)

Yesterday? Not quite as well oiled as today was. We didn't get anything done we had planned to do. We had a formal party to go to and BabyK was in his little suit and I was in my gorgeous green dress from Banana Republic (I must say, we looked quite spiffy) and then Keeler went to his room to play while I put on my shoes. It got quiet. You know when it gets quiet that something is about to go terribly terribly wrong. I go in to check on him and he runs over to me and grabs a hold of my dress with his cute little hands COVERED IN VASELINE. It was ten minutes before we were supposed to leave and he'd been on his very best impression of a two year old all day so I said 'screw it' and put us both in our pjs. We looked quite nice for about fifteen minutes though! Ah the joys of motherhood...


Before the incident.

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Seven

April 18th, 2008

Appetizer - Name a color you find soothing.
Green

Soup - Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience.
Drivers Ed was bad
Squirrel smushed under the car
Still had to drive home.

Salad - What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of?
Fleece - gotta love my Old Navy fleece sleep pants. I could live in them.

Main Course - Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see?
Um yeah...not that dedicated for any concert.

Dessert - What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)?
"E"

And there you have it folks!

Wow, this is....

Well, I know what it is supposed to look like, but...gross, yet fascinating. Who decides they want their lunch to look like open heart surgery????



Photo from Los Dragónnes'

Bento No. 4

Bento No. 4 is here!

Top: Rotini tossed in sweet & sour salad dressing, star shaped cucumbers and some sweet pickles on a stick.

Bottom: Watermelon, a milky way bar, carrot sticks all on top of lettuce and some cucumber salad in the cup (cucumbers, sour cream, dill, salt and pepper to taste).

Well, let's see...not a whole lot to report. Stayed home from a bad bad migraine. Thank goodness for daycare on those days!

Bento No. 3

Okay, so not really sure what the heck kind of bento this is, but here it is in all its glory.



Bottom: homemade mashed potatoes and some leftover green beans.
Top: Veggie pinwheels (tortillas, cream cheese, carrots, cucumbers), carrot slices, grape tomatoes, mini sweet pickles and olives. It's random. Hopefully I will enjoy this combination tomorrow.

Hmmm...very busy at work. Who says summer is a slow time? Not me!

So last night I went to bed early in hopes of finally getting some good sleep. However, I woke up a couple of hours later because I was FREEZING. I went to the thermostat to bump it up.

Nothing.

I turned the air on and bumped it down.

Nothing.

Yep, checked the circut breaker, electricity, everything and nothing worked. Darn furnace. I went through the house to find all the blankets I could for me, BabyK and Riley. However, the good news is it got fixed today. I have had the heat cranked since I got home to make up for being a human icecicle last night.

I can't wait until the pool opens. I've had a hankerin' to go swimming lately.

Cute happening of the day

I forgot the cute happening of the day in my last post. So, I went to pick up BabyK today and there is a little girl at daycare who will walk FOREVER if you just hold her hand. She's not up for walking by herself yet. So, anywho, BabyK got jealous because his mommy was spending time with another baby so he came over. I gave him the other baby's hand and it was sooooo cute! He walked around with her. So precious, looking at them holding hands. My heart just melted!

Bento No. 2

So, here is bento try Numero 2. I opted for a more American theme this time with egg salad, a regular salad with tomatoes, muenster cheese and some carrot sticks. Some yummy olives on the side and a thing of catalina dressing tops it off. Yum yum. Not the faciest, but it looks pretty when you try to do something that is a little nicer.

Oh, and yes, that is my new bento box. Yipee!!!

Okay, early night for me. I'm sleepy.

Dumpster Diving

It's true. I ALMOST have no shame. The neighbors moved and instead of taking their stuff with them they left it by the curb. What kind of stuff? A perfectly good dresser, some hedge trimmers, hoe, mirrors...and all quite nice. So, since mom and dad were visiting I put them to work and we moved that stuff on over. I was hoping for a dresser anyways and now I have one...for free!

This is the thing I don't understand in these parts. SO MANY people just dump their stuff outside instead of donating it to charity, selling it, or posting it on craigslist or freecycle. Why??? Is it THAT hard to type a few sentences? Oh well, my gain.

Still been having all kinds of crazy dreams this week. What will tonight bring me? Maybe Colin Firth? That'd be awesome.

Say what?

So, I've been having lots of dreams and nightmares lately. Not sure why. It is really screwing with my sleep though! Last night's was VERY interesting. I dreamt that George Clooney saved his poo in bags every time he did a movie and for some reason I was on set for Leather heads and got a hold of it and sold it on ebay. Totally gross. Totally weird. What do the dream people say about that one?

Anyhow, I am having trouble sleeping now. That is the worst feeling, knowing you want to sleep so awfully bad but you just cannot get there.

Hmmm...good news - I got a happy email today at work! Two actually! I love happy emails. I keep them in a folder called "happy emails" so that when I have a bad day, I can look through them and it makes me feel better because I know that day will soon be over and a better, happy email filled day will come again soon. Everyone should have a happy email folder.

Okay, back to counting sheep...dancing sheep...wait a minute...

Yasai Ga Sukides

A few years ago my roommate at the time was taking Japanese. I asked her one day, "How do I say I am a vegetarian?" She said she didn't know, but to say "I like vegetables" was "Yasai Ga Sukides" (or however you actually spell it. I officially know one phrase in Japanese now. haha.

I was in cooking mode today. I tried another go at my new bento obsession. I was browsing all the stuff on ebay and it seemed REALLY expensive so I went to Michael's and found lots of the same stuff there for way cheaper. There are lots of things you can use in the cake decorating supplies, and to make the cute cut outs of nori just visit the scrapbooking section for a hole punch in cute shapes.

Before we could start cooking we had to go to the grocery store.





This was my first try at onirigi the other day. Not too shabby. The heart and round one are filled with fruit and the other two are filled with cucumber and carrots.



Some onirigi I made today. Two are just plain and the other two are filled with egg salad with paprika on top. Yeah, note to self, egg salad is not the yummiest filling...



My first official go at a bento box. On the left: Veggie sushi rolls stuffed with avacado, carrots and cucumber, carrot sticks, and picks filled with tomatoes, olives and cheese with a side of wasaibi. On the right, two onigiri filled with cucumber and carrots, two milky way bites, star shaped cucumber, carrots and cheese. As you can see, there was a star theme today.

Bento and Dancing

Well, I made my first onigiri today! It is actually quite easy and very yummy. I made most of them triangle shaped with carrots and cucumber for filling. The heart shaped one and the ball I filled with diced fruit for more of a desert taste. I'm digging the whole bento thing so far. I still don't have a bento box, but am practicing up for when I do.

Tonight Baby K and I went to an improvisational jam session for dancers. It was so fun! I'm not a dancer, but Baby K sure is. He was tearing it up and was actually with the music a lot of the time. Such a talented boy! Hopefully we didn't dampen the dancers' concentration or enjoyment. I look forward to doing it again someday. We had to go when he looked at me and said, "Mommy. Mommy I'm tired." He's getting so big and talking in sentences! My how time flies.

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Six

April 4th, 2008

Appetizer
Invent a new flower; give it a name and describe it.

"Green With Envy" - A green flower on a purplish stalk and leaves. Delicate and elegant, yet very simple.

Soup
Name someone whom you think has a wonderful voice.

Colin Firth. Love his voice, his look, his eyes...

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how clean do you keep your car?

Oh, I have a kid, so probably a 2. There are cheerios everywhere!

Main Course
How do you feel about poetry?

Depends on the author. Robert Frost is nice.

Dessert
What was the last person/place/thing you took a picture of?

Baby K of course!

My new obsession - and I haven't even started yet!

So, I have been seriously thinking about trying to save money/save the planet and my new obsession is Bento! Seriously, it is so fun and inspires me to make my lunch. I haven't tried it yet, but I am sure it would...I can picture myself now, making Baby K a lovely little lunch like this when he starts school (maybe I shouldn't think about that. It seems so far away):



Isn't it so freaking cute?

I ordered my first Bento Box via the evil ebay. It sucks because you really can find anything you need there. This little booger should be arriving in a few days:



I love how cute it is and how it comes with accessories so I don't have to find those also. If I dig the whole Bento Box thing maybe I'll add to my accessories.

That's it. I'm going to bed.