Wednesday, July 01, 2009

1. On Gov Sanford: He’s not my governor, but he was one of the politicians that I believed to be a solid guy. Turns out not to be the case. I was willing to forgive the transgression since he seemed so open and genuine in his confession of it, although the whole thing seemed super weird last week. This week? Gross. And it may be time for him to resign.

2. On Michael Jackson: Sad. His whole life was sad and his death is sad, too. A sad, sad circus freak show.

3. On Congress/The President: They’re all nutso and not paying attention to their constituents. This will come back to bite them on their rears. I’m hoping that happens before they destroy the very foundations of our country. I feel a deep forboding that grows daily.

4. On Tea Parties: We’re considering attending the Northern Virginia Tea Party on the 4th since it’s to be held near home. At this point it is mere consideration since I’m not enthused about being out in the heat in the hottest part of the day, there’s Molly Ann feedings to consider, and we’re going to my parents’ for a cookout that afternoon/evening. I’m totally with the protesters in spirit, though.

On that note, I heard author Brad Thor on the Glenn Beck radio show yesterday say that he thinks that no federal employee should be allowed to vote. They were talking about the special interests and Congress and how politics has gotten crazy lately. I understand where’s he is coming from, but he needs to remember that not every fed employee is a politically motivated bureaucrat with an agenda. Most fed employees are just regular citizens, many of whom feel the way he does about the direction we seem to be headed as a country.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

There’s a new post at WC.

Did I mention the other day that parenting is hard? 

Monday, June 29, 2009

Billy Mays, too?

Movies: Blood Work was OK.

Books: Shadow of Power by Stever Martini was pretty good, although I figured out the major mystery about halfway through the first chapter.

Food: Judging from the Roasted Mango-Chipotle sauce we had on our chicken last night, Bronco Bob’s sauces are awesome. I have a sample jar of the Raspberry-Chipotle sauce as well that I’m saving for some salmon in our future.

I’m on worship team this weekend. Our church is only having services on Sunday morning since July 4th is on Saturday. That will make things easier for our family. I have mixed feelings about it since it will be my first time back since having Molly Ann and also since our worship leader left. That is a whole long story about which I still feel weird. His leaving was a surprise and under odd circumstances. I miss him a ton as a worshipper and I know that I’m going to miss him more as our team leader. I’m very curious about what kind of person will come in to replace him - it’s hard to imagine anyone else, really.

I’ve posted a bunch of new items at Ticklish Giggles recently and there’s a new theme as well.

Happy Monday.

Friday, June 26, 2009

So far we’re not winning The Battle of Jesse Will Eat the Dinner Put in Front of Him. Several nights this week he’s gone to bed with no dinner and begging for milk. This morning the first words he said to me when I went to change and dress him were, “Peanut butter?” In the form of the question, too. The poor boy has to be hungry.

I know that kids won’t let themselves starve, so I’m not too worried. However, he’s pretty stubborn (and we have no idea where he gets that trait) */guileless look* so I wonder how long he’ll continue to go to bed with no dinner before he finally gives in and eats something.

We’re also working on the side Battle of It’s Time to Wean Jesse Off of the Gallon of Milk He Consumes in a Day. Actually, he doesn’t drink quite that much milk, but he drinks more than he should. He won’t drink water unless he’s super hot and thirsty and I mean super hot and thirsty. He’s starting to drink some juices - orange is his favorite with apple now being added to his repertoire. But milk is his go-to beverage of choice and he drinks way too much of it.

Advice?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

So we’re all in various stages of a summer cold in our house. Fun times.

Jesse started us off last week. Beau then got it and managed to get an ear infection, too. They’re not related, thankfully. Then Molly Ann started sniffling on Saturday and I started feeling the tell-tale sore throat on Monday night. Sadly, Beau’s Mom started feeling it yesterday morning.

I ended up not going to MD to visit the cousins yesterday since I was feeling puny and didn’t want to share my germs. Instead I hung out at home all by myself since Beau took both kids with him. Used to be that I’d love having the house to myself, but by the time he called to say he was on the way back, I was feeling pretty lonely.

I spent the day playing games on Facebook. Total waste of time.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Beau’s Mom is here from California for a week-long visit with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She’s spending the first leg of her east coast trip with the Speaks’ clan. She arrived on Saturday afternoon. Beau and Jesse met her at the airport and then took her on a quick foray to Wegmans to pick up the few ingredients we needed for our chicken fajitas dinner. After dinner she crashed and Jesse went to bed so Beau, Molly Ann, and I had a pretty normal Saturday evening hanging out in our bedroom watching TV.

Oh, and Saturday was my sister‘s 40th birthday - I never made it to the computer all day to post birthday wishes here on the blog, but I did call to sing the Birthday Song to her. Happy belated birthday, my sistah. And it was also Granny‘s birthday, so happy belated birthday to you, too, my friend!

Yesterday morning was family dedication day at church. We were dedicating Molly Ann to the Lord at the 9:30 service so we headed out early. Jesse, Beau, and Molly Ann all developed colds throughout the weekend, with MA being at her worst yesterday. So I kept MA out of the service all together since she needed to be fed anyway. Marmie hung out with Jesse in order to keep him out of the nursery and so that Beau could be in church with his mom. At the end of the service we stood at the front with my folks, Beau’s Mom, and several ladies from my small group who stood with us to dedicate our baby girl to God. We are grateful that the Lord entrusted our two children to us and we pray to be the Godly parents He wants for them and to grow them up as He desires. We pray that they each become fully devoted followers of Jesus with deep faiths in the One who created them, loves them, and died for them so that they may live.

After church we headed to Artie’s for our Father’s Day brunch, which was delicious. We love that local chain of restaurants. They are top notch.

From there we headed home and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening. Once Jesse was in bed, we adults played Flinch for a couple of hours. That’s a fun game - slower paced than Nerts/Pounce, but still fun in its own way. We plan to play again tonight unless we feel more like Scrabble.

Currently, Beau, Grandma C, Jesse, and Molly Ann are at Clemyjontri while I work here at home. Then later this afternoon, we gals (Grandma C, Molly Ann, and I) are going to have tea with Marmie.

Tomorrow we head north to meet up with Beau’s Sis and her daughter and boys for a picnic. I’m looking forward to meeting baby Caleb (our great-nephew), who was born just 3 weeks before Molly Ann. We will leave Grandma C with Beau’s Sis, where she’ll spend the next leg of her visit.

All in all it has been a fabulous time and I’m sad it is almost over already. Grandma C just got here!

Friday, June 19, 2009

The post at WC about the toy box has photos added now.

Jesse grabbed the camera and started pushing the button. Here’s a sample of his handiwork.

We went to Bull Run Battlefield Park the day after getting home from the Outer Banks. It was pouring rain, so we didn’t stay long. But the tickets were good for three days, so Beau and Jesse went back the next day to explore.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Anyone else addicted to those Food Network Challenge shows? In particular, the cake decorating competitions are my weakness. The talent it takes to do those enormous cakes is amazing.

[ADDED LATER]: From Cake Wrecks ... it pretty much speaks for itself, although Jen’s commentary is great.

Speaking of cake decorating, did anyone see the episode of Cake Boss where that crazy bride screwed up her cake the day before her wedding? She is nutso. And incredibly selfish and rude. And her mother clearly never disciplined her daughter.

Back to the Food Network, I am watching this season of The Next Food Network Star. I see a couple of front runners early on - both have the cooking chops and have good TV potential. ***SPOILERS FOLLOW*** I was ticked that Brett was so willing to sell out the homemaker cook (I can’t remember her name) because she accepted his offer to help plate her food on a challenge. He offered the help, she accepted. There was no help in the actual cooking, just in the plating up of the dishes. If you ask me, she could have plated on her own in the time she had left - I think it took more time for her to show them how she wanted things than if she had just done it herself. But that Brett was such a jerk made me happy that he got the boot.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

There are two new posts at Whiny Complaints for your enjoyment.

“Poopy”

and

The Toy Box

Friday, June 12, 2009

This is the kind of civil process I see in my office all too often.

Late last month, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a complaint filed by a woman who said she’d been buying Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal for four years under the assumption that crunchberries are a real berry. “The plaintiff, Janine Sugawara, alleged that she had only recently learned to her dismay that said ‘berries’ were in fact simply brightly-colored cereal balls.”

Idiot.

[via rude cactus]

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I bought a pair of these shoes last spring. They are not pretty, but they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. I bought them because I knew I was trying to get pregnant and I wore a hand-me-down pair when I was pregnant with Jesse (that I got from Jaynee). They have lovely soft soles and mesh uppers that not only allow the feet to get air, but stretch to accommodate the swelling. (Although, my feet did outgrow the shoes at the end because of the swelling - I was reduced to flip flips in the last two weeks.)

Anyway, I love the shoes, but I sort of ruined them with the stink of sweaty, pregnant feet. I knew they were sort of stinky and I Febrezed them before our week at the OBX. But the sad truth of it was brought home to me when we were at the beach. I wore them on the day we visited the Wright Bros. Memorial. When we got home I took them off and left them in the bedroom. Later that night, when I went to the bedroom for some reason, I was met with the smell of… pausing to laugh because I know you won’t believe me ... corn chips. My shoes smelled like Fritos.

Cut to being back home and my desire to wear the shoes to work. But they smell bad enough that I can smell them when I wear them - the mesh, you know. Totally gross, right? And I knew the Febreze wasn’t going to cut it. Determined not the toss the shoes and knowing it is not in our budget to buy a replacement pair, I did a quick search for new innersoles and found some. No link, because I bought them at CVS and I can’t remember what the brand is.

The gist of the story is that the new innersoles are great - they feel like the originals and fit into the shoes well. The only problem is that they squeak. I’m not talking a quiet little squeak every once in a while. I’m talking sonic boom squeaking with every step. I have started calling them my Inspector Clouseau shoes - there’s no sneaking up on anyone when I’m wearing them. I’m almost embarrassed by them. Almost.

Let it be known that Wegmans Fajita Marinade is the best on the planet.

Actually, just about anything from Wegmans is top notch. Other items we recommend:

Lemon & Garlic Marinade - this is what we use for our cedar plank salmon, but it’s also good with chicken.

There’s a tarragon vinaigrette that we use for chicken, but I’m not seeing the bottle we use. This may be it, but I can’t guarantee it.

They have two BBQ sauces that we like when we don’t make our own. Memphis style and Kansas City style.

Finally, let me recommend the Caramelized Onion & Bacon Dressing. Beau bought this when they seemed to be out of ranch dressing. It’s delish.

If you don’t have a Wegmans, I’m so sorry. You’re missing out on the best grocery store EVER.