Sunday, February 28, 2010

Vegetarian Tacos with spinach, corn and goat cheese...


Let me just preface this by saying two words: Yum Mee! The pic does not do this meal justice but it is delicious. I'm a big fan of goat cheese so it was a real treat how good this turned out to be.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

Kosher Salt and black pepper

2 cups frozen corn, thawed

5 ounces baby spinach

8 small flower tortillas, warmed

3/4 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (3 oz)

3/4 cup store bought refrigerated salsa


*Heat the oil in a non stick skillet over medium heat. Add chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

*Add the corn and cook, tossing until heated, about two minutes. Add spinach and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper and toss until spinach is wilted.

*Fill tortillas with the mixture and add goat cheese and salsa.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Dolly Parton said...

"Lot's of women buy just as many wigs and makeup things as I do.... They just don't wear them all at the same time."

Amen Dolly. This little tidbit was found in my Real Simple magazine this month. It was originally in Ms. magazine in 1979!

Happy Friday!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

I am loved. Truly loved.

I won't bore you with the details, but I was up this morning throwing up. And unfortunately not the kind of vomiting where you can be lady like about it. Oh no. This was loud and prolonged. But never fear, Caroline came to my rescue. She brought me her stuffed turtle pillow to sit on so I could be comfortable as I waited for the next bout of sickness. Love that kid.
And before anyone asks or hints around, the morning throw up is not pregnancy related.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

In the game of grown up, who wins?

Along with real life comes real responsibilities.
Cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, trash...
Throw kids in and there's even more.
And of course there are days where you are JUST PLAIN TIRED and don't WANT to be responsible, if even just for a few hours, or even AN hour.
But what happens when all of the grown ups aren't in sync?
So one grown up is relaxing, and the other is tidying up?
Bitter feelings are what happen to me.
So it becomes a game of he said she said.
She said: How come I'm always cleaning and you're watching TV?
He said: How come when I'm cleaning you're reading a book?
She said: How come we can't each clean a room?
He said :Because I don't want to clean right now.
Life.
A real crowd pleaser.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Conversation piece...

A while back I wrote (and retracted) a post about how I'm feeling a little under the weather, emotionally. It felt like the right thing to write at the time, but also felt like the right thing to take back. And amazingly enough in the matter of hours while it was up, several of you reached out to me. I can not even begin to express how it made me feel. People I have never met reached out to tell me I was not alone. AND checked in on me to see if I was feeling better. My friends hugged me and told me they loved me. And meant it.
The whole thing got me thinking...
Do I have a responsibility to share? Be honest about feeling this way? In the matter of hours people let me know I wasn't alone maybe I could have made someone else feel better in knowing that THEY are not alone? Why is it that so many times we sweep these personal feelings under the rug?
In this time in our lives, why is there still a perceived stigma on feeling alone? In need? In knowing you are struggling?
To those people who reached out to me, Thank You. Your kindness helped me more than you know. To anyone who needs a friend, helping hand or words of encouragement, let me know. You are not alone.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Suck it, winter...







I'm telling you, as this winter goes on I understand seasonal depression more and more. I've never been a big snow fan to begin with, so this winter I am really over it. Sadly enough, we are supposed to get hit hard again over the next week.
Caroline has been having fun watching the icicles grow and grow. Me, not so much. Today I had enough and decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and knock the icicles down, which really means that on Friday night I took my Swiffer outside and started swinging.
Part of me expected someone to call the cops on me out there in my Hunter boots knee deep in the snow swinging my Swiffer around in the air. All I need now are some cute Hunter striped socks...
Is it Spring yet???






Tuesday, February 16, 2010

40 days and 40 nights...

It's time. Lent. My annual "Give up Pepsi" for Lent sacrifice. And as previously discussed I am not a very religious person but I do make sure to give up two things for Lent each year. I always give up Pepsi and I try to choose something (a habit) to give up. Now, if you know me and spend time around me you will know that where I go, Pepsi goes. The Pepsi is never far from me, so while it may not seem like a big thing, let me tell you that the first thing I look for on Easter morning is not the Easter Bunny, it's a Pepsi.
A few years ago my second Lent sacrifice I gave up was moving Brian's keys. Again, this may not seem like a big deal but in my mind, he put his keys in the wrong spot at the end of each day and it irritated me and I would move them to what I perceived at the "right" spot. So each morning it turned into "Where did you put my keys?" and I would point at where I had put them. I had to realize that each of us had our own idea of the right spot and I gave up moving the keys and let Brian pick his own "right spot."
This year I am giving up five to ten minutes a day. The matter of minutes one of my kids asks for my attention where I say "In a minute." As in:
I will come see that funny commercial in a minute after I put this dish in the dishwasher.
I will come see what you want in a minute after I clean this counter off.
I will look at the shirt you are trying to show me in a minute after I finish what I am doing.
As in: Can you help me for a minute? Listen for a minute?
Yes, I can.
Because really, what is a minute to me is a memory to you and I can get my minute back but I can't change your memories.

Monday, February 15, 2010

The Wife's Tale...


I can not even begin to adequately state how much I enjoyed reading this book. Adored it. This book is a beautifully written story of an overweight woman and how she finds herself after her husband leaves her. I had never read any of the authors books before (Lori Lansens) but I will tell you that as soon as I finished the book I reserved copies of her others.

I am so glad that I read this and would suggest it to anyone wanting a good read.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

That's amore!







In keeping with our new found tradition, Caroline and I have our weekend slumber party. Well, Caroline wanted to decorate "our" room for Valentine's Day. I think we had different things in mind. I was thinking of cutting out some hearts and placing them on bedside tables. Caroline apparently was thinking of putting about 100 stickers on every surface she could reach, including the ceiling fan which she was able to get to by standing on the bed.



Looks like love to me...



Speaking of love, Starbucks comped me my Chai Tea Latte today and told me Happy Valentine's Day. This is the same Starbucks that made Caroline a gift bag for her birthday a few years ago. Thank You Starbucks on Lane Avenue! You ROCK!!!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

College bound...


My sweet girl. Tessa. Remember a week or so ago when we were "seeing blue?"

The "last minute" college that got thrown into the mix when I was pretty sure we were down to University of Kentucky and Indiana?

St. John's in New York?

Well, can I just brag in ALL CAPS?

We got notified that Tessa was awarded a FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIP.

I'm beyond proud. And scared. And sad. But mostly proud. OK, maybe mostly sad.

My girl is leaving me in less than seven months.

I was pretty sure I'd be turning Tessa over to blogger Ally in Kentucky for the next four years but maybe it will be blogger Wendy B. in NYC.

Is it possible to miss someone who is still here?

Anyway.... SO PROUD.



Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Boom Boom Pow...




So, I was on the phone with my next door neighbor when all of a sudden there was a HUGE BOOM followed by my house shaking. And really, I'm not exaggerating. My neighbor said said "What was that?" and I asked her if I could call her back and told her to stay inside as I knew she was home alone with three children. You know, because I'm so big and brawny.


Since the noise came from the back of the house I went outside to the back yard to see what the freak had happened.


Apparently the snow is so heavy and there is so much of it that our tree branches are collapsing under the weight of it. Fabulous. The reason the house shook as the branches fell? The branches fell through our phone line as they fell and yanked the line off our our house.


Aargh.


This isn't the first time we've had trouble with this tree. The tree is old and started falling apart in 2007. Again, no joke, no exaggerating. I know the tree needs to come down but it is one of two trees which perfectly hold our hammock. I've suggested trimming the tree limbs and leaving the trunk of the tree so we can still have the hammock but Brian thinks that is tacky. So?


Hope your "snow days" are fun ones!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

An AMAZING read...



The story of a family torn apart by domestic abuse from several different perspectives. I don't want to say too much about the story and give anything away, but this really was a great book. I've read a couple of Chris' books and they are always well written and thought provoking. If you are a reader, I would absolutely suggest adding this to your list. If anyone wants me to mail this to them let me know... ktlangmeyer@yahoo.com

*I know I have an email from someone asking to read The Senator's Wife and I need to send it as soon as I remember who. Sara, was it you? I think it was......

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

100 days of Kindergarten...

Amazingly enough, we didn't have to do a "100 item" display. Whew. The teacher must been thinking of those of us who are still getting used to packing lunches for the 100th day, scrambling around after not going grocery shopping and trying to assemble a reasonably healthy meal that won't get children's services called on us!
Some things Caroline has learned and or experienced since she started school:
1) Boys. Caroline's teacher has requested that she stop trying to kiss them so often. Oops. That one is in the genes, sorry!
2) Caroline announced that since I am over 18, I am old enough to call and order things on the phone.
3) Caroline suspects her teacher of taking home leftover food from the kids to feed her own children, especially if it is cookies! (Not sure where she came up with this theory but it always cracks me up!)
4) As of today, Caroline asked the art lady to put together a better plan as she would like to see more crafts.
5) We ran into a teacher at Target, prompting Caroline to tell me that she is pretty sure teachers love Target the best.
6) Caroline has already picked what she wants to wear for 1st grade pictures. The problem is that it is a dress she already has, only we didn't know it was actually a nightgown. And we've been letting her wear it to school! Damn you Gymboree for making the sale racks confusing!

Now that we have Caroline's first 100 days of school over, it's time to start counting down to Tessa's graduation. Can you HEAR my heart breaking???

Monday, February 1, 2010

A higher power...

For a long time I have struggled with my thoughts on religion. I think about it a lot, read about it a fair amount but can't quite seem to wrap my hands around it. I've been to many churches and spoken to many friends about this subject but I'm just not "feeling" it. Well, this kind of bit me in the butt recently. I attended a support/self help group but didn't quite feel "tuned in" as there was a lot of talk about higher powers. And as I am struggling with that I found myself wondering if all of these people had found theirs. Or were they too muddling through for the sake of the purpose at hand? I have to admit that I didn't return for week two, as the whole "higher power" thing threw me for a loop. Am I supposed to come to terms with that first? But then, greatness struck in the form of my own Igor Jr. Who is Igor you ask? A borrowed term from my most respected blogger, La Belette Rouge. Visit her blog and all will be clear. Just don't become so enthralled with her story that you never come back to mine!
Anyway, Igor Jr. told me that my higher power can be anyone I want for it to be. My children. At that point, all was clear to me. And I felt much better. Maybe I will give self help a second try after all.


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