Loose Ends.

Guess what tonight is? Girl's night out! Woot!
Actually I am just meeting up with a friend from high school and we are having dinner. We just reunited a couple of weeks ago and before that, it had been at least 7 years. When we saw each other it was just like it was in high school. I love friends like that! She lives a few hours away but spends the weekdays here finishing up her last Midwifery clinical. We always have tons to talk about! She even answers my totally lame questions, like *how many people really do poop while pushing? Always exciting talk!

I've been neglecting my blog, yes? I can't help it. I am obsessed here and it is so easy to just throw out a little though throughout the day. If you haven't joined yet, you really should. You won't be disappointed.

You guys have really thrown me with your choices for my glasses. The first day I was certain I'd be ordering the tortoise ones and now the last 6 votes have been for the white cat-eye ones. Between email votes and text messages on my phone. The contest stands at 10 : 8. THe tortoise taking a very small lead. So now I am really thrown for a loop! I still need to hear from a few important souls...*cough* Jill, Stacey, Krissy, Pedro, *cough*
Get on it kids!

Besides that? We are just chillin' here, waiting for summer. What have you been up to?




*A LOT to Most! Thank you Jesus.

What a Spectacle. **EDITED**

I need some help.

Since I've had babies, I've become this indecisive ya-ya. It drives people around me crazy. The time has come for me to get some new glasses. if it seems like I just got new glasses, I did just a year ago. They are scratched severely. I tried to have them fixed, but the place I got them from thought it'd be fun to charge me $150 for new lenses. Thanks but no thanks.

So. I've found two pairs of glasses. The two are very different but both very fun. Practical? Not so much but I've never really been one for practical glasses. The first ones are a heavy tortoise pattern. I love tortoise. The second ones are white marbled 50's inspired. I love that they are cat eye-ish. So can you help a sister out? Which ones do you like, for me?

**Here's the scoop, I will (cross my heart) absolutely get the ones that receive the most votes. EVERY VOTE COUNTS- Choose my glasses!

Teeny Bits.

I'm busy.  I'm bored.  I'm a twitter girl.  I signed up nearly a year ago, but this time I'm going to keep up.  If you want to know every time I shave my pits... find me here.  

Let me know if you're a twit too m'kay?

Sharing the love.

I love going out for Mexican food and having that perfectly shredded chicken in my burritos. I had never tried to make it because it seemed so intimidating and time consuming. Guess what? It is a breeze to make and you probably have all the ingredients right now!

Last night we had tostadas and soft tacos with it. We've had it just by itself with mexican rice. And I am dying to use it for chicken nachos! The best part? It makes about three meals worth. You've got to try it.

Ingredients:

1 3lb. bag boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 bottle Italian dressing (I use light)

3 cloves garlic

1 onion

1 green pepper

1 Tbs. Cumin

1 Tbs. Chili powder

salt and pepper (I hate telling people how much to use because I like salt a LOT)

Thaw out the bag of breasts and trim off anything that might gross you out and rinse. Slice onion and green pepper. I don't even bother slicing the garlic, I just smoosh with the side of my knife. Toss all the ingredients in a Crock Pot for 4-5 hours on high.

After I noticed my Crock Pot had turned off I spooned out all the breasts (there will be a lot of liquid now) and put them in a separate bowl. With a fork in each hand, start raking the meat. It practically shreds itself taking no more than 2 minutes to do it all.

Toss all of it back into the Crock Pot and give it one good stir. Turn Crock Pot to low until you are ready to eat it, but for at least 1/2 an hour.

It is totally fool-proof. I used a jalapeno yesterday instead of the green pepper . I wanted to throw in a tomato too but I only had one so I reserved it for a taco topping. Add what you like, leave out what you don't!

I put leftovers in sandwich bags in the freezer. Mmmm...Chicken Nachos!

On Love and Sickness

Hope you are having a fantastic V-Day. Me? I am having an all out love fest with my Puffs Plus.
Thanks for your well wishes. I hope to be better soon too!

Kisses! (germ free of course)

What kind of Doctors do I see?

Hiya.  Wecome to the house of sick!  Sit down and take a load off; It's gonna be here a while.

I never get colds.  So maybe never is a strong word, but my last cold was in June.  Before that?  It had been a good year, cold free.  Don't get me wrong,  my kids get them often, and Pedro too. I get every little stomach bug that walks on by but colds?  Cold are for sissies.  See?  Now you know why I am miserably sick.  I got way cocky.  

Pedro started to feel nasty last Monday.  By Thursday I was feeling good that the rest of us were not going to get it.  "It"  consisted of a wicked fever that lasted 4 days, a super tight chest, and body aches like nobody's business.    By Saturday night, Mason was moaning every hour.  By Sunday night my chest felt like some sumo wrestler was sitting on it.  And last night poor little Harper started shivering uncontrollably.  So sad.  I think this may even be Influenza.  But of course we didn't get the shot.  My crunchiness kind of thinks it's a hoax and even more, I had a Dr.( who was also the rudest doctor ever) explain to me that it is all a prediction.  No thanks.  No predictions are going into my body or my kids.  Maybe I'll feel different in a few years, but for now, that's my story.  And we are all wicked sick.

[Now watch.  The sickness will hold on for weeks because I am about to get cocky again.]

When I start to feel like I am getting sick, there are a few things I do that I swear work.  

*I make chicken soup from scratch.  Every single time anyone in my house gets sick, I make either Chicken Noodle or Chicken Dumpling soup.  I make my own stock from a whole chicken and my mom taught me how to make really good dumplings.   It's a little time consuming, but the kind of time that you don't have to be paying any attention to.  

*I drink hot herbal tea by the gallon with honey and lemon.  I once had a Doctor suggest honey for a tight chest.  He suggested two tablespoons of honey diluted with two tablespoons of hot water.  Chug a lug!  And if you don't puke from the syrupy sweetness it works!  I just prefer to drink mine a little less aggressively, in tea.

*I eat super duper healthy.  I make sure I am getting beyond enough water.  I eat a couple oranges a day.  Blood oranges are in season right now and once you eat one of those, you'll never want regular oranges.  They are so tender.  None of that stringy stuff and they just taste awesome.  I am probably on crack or Theraflu but I think they have a hit of berry-ish flavor.  Go get yourself some.

*I really don't like to take pills but when I am rocking a 103 fever I turn to my little friend, Advil.  As much as I'd love to have a natural alternative, it is the only thing that makes my crunchy ass feel any better when I am burning up.    

Peace, Love and Purell.

  

Woot!

Girls night out tonight,  Holla!

In Case you Were Wondering...

* I took the vacuum back.  I just couldn't justify keeping it when my old one was working just fine!

*I shaved my pits today!

*On Superbowl Sunday I became an Auntie again.  My older brother and his girlfriend just had their first baby.  Kyler David.  He really is beautiful.

*I am thinking about joining 30 tiny moments.

*Someone should sign me up for "Mother of the year" stat!  Today after lunch I started giving the nap countdown when Mason decided to throw a huge hissy.  

"NO!  I don't want to take a nap!"

Without even skipping a beat or raising my voice I just replied, "tough titty."

Cue the screeching record

What was I thinking?  Clearly, I wasn't.  I don't talk like that (around my kids) ever.

Classy! Like having a 4 year-old birthday party at a nudie bar.  

Totally embarrassing. 

No one I'd rather be with.

I always feel weird talking about this because it is so complex, but I feel this special bond with Mason.  Is it because he's my first? Is it because he's a boy?  Or, is it because we went through so much when he was a tiny premature baby?  Maybe it's all of those things combined, I am not really sure.  Sometimes  I let myself feel guilty about it which I shouldn't.  It is not at all that I love him more, it is just different, a lot like a father and his daughter I'd assume.  

I've been feeling like I wanted to spend some special time with Mason.  He's been really difficult lately and I start to feel like all I do is nag about what he's doing wrong, so I wanted to spend a few hour just with him. 

 

We decided on Saturday morning that we were going to go to a movie.  Mason was so excited! 

We got to the cinema and it was sold out!  You should have seen all the tears.  Mason didn't get why we couldn't just take a different seat.  Poor kid.  his first time to a movie and he got the shaft.  

Instead, he wanted to go into the arcade (a personal hell for me).  He first road this motorcycle that I helped him with.  We did awful.  He wanted to drive the race car next and I kept my hands to myself. 

 He did way better without me.  

Sheesh. I am so not ready to be saying that out loud.

We had a nice morning together.  We need to do it more often, my special little guy.

Suck it!

This morning we needed to run a few errands.  To me, there is nothing worse than coming home to a trashed house, so I always try to pick up before walking out the door.  The house was decent and I decided to whip out the vacuum.  I'm vacuuming away and it just stops.  Nothing strange was sucked in, it just stopped.  Immediately I asked Mason to plug the vacuum back in.  

"but it's already plugged in!"

So we added a new errand to our list, a new vacuum. We went to 2 stores and decided on the Hoover Mach 6 to replace our Hoover Fusion.  We loaded it in the car and home we went.  Just to be sure, I plugged our old vacuum in to make sure it didn't work and it was still dead.  Mason comes in and says he's going to fix the old vacuum.  He plugs it back into the wall an voila!  It works like a charm!  Now what do I do?  Do I return it and hope that my old one keeps kicking?  Or, do I sign my son up for the circus with his healing powers?

7 Things

I was tagged by the lovely MP for this 7 thing meme. As if you need any more proof, here are 7 more things that will comfirm your doubts about me.

"She's a strange one that Crunchy Girl..."

1. The smell of patchouli on me makes me insane, not in a good way. I despise it. On other people it smells heavenly. When Pedro smells like it, it makes me wild, in a good way. Roar Baby, Roar! It is my favorite, buy this for yourself or someone you like to sniff!

2. I hate to shave my pits. I do it (not often) but I hate it. My legs often, the beav often (did I really just write beav?) but the pits are such a chore for me. HATE.

3. I was a waitress for many years. I loved it! It paid my way through college and was such instant gratification...you do a good job, you get rewarded within an hour. With money! I still talk about missing it, often.

4. I was a ballet dancer for 13 years. I was told by my teacher often that I needed to lose 10 lbs starting at age 10. Some how I've never had any sort of an eating disorder.

5. I love to bake! I bake at least one thing every week. I blame this book I got about 8 years ago. When I got it I went crazy trying all sorts of recipes. Now I almost never use a recipe, I just know how much of everything to add. This is why I haven't yet come up with a recipe for this cake.

6. I love soup. I make soup just about every week, all from scratch. I like to make huge pots of it so I can have it for lunch throughout the week. This is the last pot of soup I made. Mmmmm, Minnestroni! Tonight I am making Cream of Broccoli.

7. I'd rather have a really good chewy bagel than a donut, any day. I used to be anble to say "no thanks" when donuts were offered until I got pregnant with Mason. Now I'll eat either and rarely say "no thanks" but mostly "yes please!"

Wow. That took forever. Just so you know this post was started on Dec 14th. Holla!

Don't be J!

My Dad is a really good guy. He's been an awesome Dad and a great Grandpa. When he works he dresses great. His shoes always match his belt and his suits are always perfectly tailored. When he's not working, Oh Sweet Lord!

One time my Dad went up to our cottage by himself. It is so peaceful and beautiful up there, that one of the things all of us do when we're there is to just sit quietly at the end of the dock. My Dad was sitting there were a boat drove up to him and asked him if he needed help. His red sweatpants, bright blue sweatshirt and obnoxious hat were taken as S.O.S. He laughs every time he talks about it but the red sweatpants are still up at the cottage and I am pretty sure he still wears them every time he's up there.

The other night when we got home from our little road trip, I ripped off my clothes and put on my most comfy duds. I looked okay, I think, until I realized I needed to take the dog out and put some more clothes on. Once I was ready to head out the door to walk the dog around the block, it hit me. "What am I wearing?"

I looked totally hot! No. I looked HAWT! So hawt in fact that Pedro grabbed my camera and started snapping. I posed for a few, then off I went to walk the dog. I think the dog may have been a little embarrassed.

I bet I make my Dad so proud some days!

I am mean.

I really didn't plan on leaving you guy hanging, I swear. I just couldn't take anymore whining and crying so I pushed publish! Then you got all mad at me.

We've come to the conclusion that the owners really don't want to let the house go. They built it themselves 31 years ago and lived there for 30. Serious attachment issues. And also that their realtor is an idiot. After our FINAL OFFER in bold, they came back last night with another counter offer. Yes, they did. And we politely gave them the finger. The middle one.

Last night we went out to dinner, after having chocolate cake, and I am now totally convinced that there is some reason that house isn't for us. It wasn't perfect, but I was ready to work some magic on it and make it really rad. You guys were right though. I am not at all ready to say goodbye to this house, although we'll have to soon enough. Now Pedro's got the bug, he spent all last night of the computer looking at more houses. I am on hold.

But guess what? They called again this morning to counter again. Douche Bags. That's OK! I still have half a chocolate cake here and it's the best damn chocolate cake ever!

Dream Home, part 4: The Waiting Game

I don't know about you but when I am waiting for something, I try to keep myself busy.

First my worry wart genes wake my ass up at 4: 15 am.


Then I turn into a Betty Crocker/ Martha Stewart wannabe.



That'd be a spinach and feta omlet, potatoes and sausages!



"I like it when my Mom is trying to keep herself busy!"

Then I make my kids go outside and "have fun" in the blizzard we are having just so I can take pictures of them.





Then when the kids are good and worn out I put them both down for a long winters nap and wait some more!

The floors get scrubbed, clothes get washed, and then my crazy domestic brain starts to think about chocolate cake! Hot Damn! Some how we happen to have all the ingredients to make it, with homemade chocolate frosting too!



My kids wake up just in time to help me frost.





Then we eat a totally Weight Watcher Friendly Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting!
And I am very, very good at lying to myself at this point!


And then we finally get a phone call...

Later today, I swear. I cannot neglect my kids any longer!

Do you hear it?

...tick, tock, tick, tock...

*EDITED- The owners who no longer live in town (they moved to a resort town) want an extension to make their decision. They are coming to town to discuss with their realtor...so looks like more waiting. Good times Everyone!

Dream Home, part 3: a new twist

Within hours after seeing the house, Pedro and I decided we wanted to make an offer. Our realtor who is very conservative when it comes to buying and selling advised us to offer significantly lower than the asking price(which we could not afford) because of all the updating that would be necessary to live in.

We offered. They countered. We offered our max bid and they countered again. We were 10,000 dollars apart and we were done.

For some reason I was relieved. I don't know how I would've handled having a house on the market with two kids who love to pay with 8,076 different toys each day. I would miss my little house that we brought 2 babies home to even though we are outgrowing it. Have I mentioned that we only have one bathroom? It blows.

This all happened 2 weeks ago. Since then our realtor has been sending us various other listings. I haven't had the slightest desire to look at any of them. To get me to move it's going to have to be something special. And quirky. And have a whole bunch of potential...

Yesterday after two weeks had passed, we placed one last offer on the log house. We increased our bid by a measly $3,000 and included the words, FINAL OFFER.

Those of you who are reading and playing along, wondering how the story ends? Your guess is as good as mine. They have 48 hours...

Dream Home: part two *Updated with Photos*

I really didn't plan on leaving you all hanging for the entire weekend, but we were busy moving in!

Just kidding.

We went on a last minute road trip Friday. Let's get on with the show, eh!

Because Pedro knows me well, he sent me a link to this log cabin that was in a fantastic neighborhood near us. We weren't at all in the market for a new house, but I was intregued, I called our family friend who was also a realtor and made an appointment to see the house the very next day.

We walked in and oh my God, the quirkiness! And also oh my God the potential! My wheels were cranking and I immediately had a half a bazillion ideas. The house was built in the late 70's by the current owner. He built it to suit his taste and kept it perfectly maintained. But I shit you not, the curtains matched the carpet in every single room. Each of the four bedrooms had a different primary colored carpet with mini-blinds to match.


It needed lots of updating, but I was confident that we could handle it after conquering "Button". Besides being outdated it was open and rustic with all exposed beams. It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms, a wood burning stove and the coziest feeling ever. But still, the brass light fixtures a the emerald green carpet (that matched the crocheted emerald valence) were nearly obscene.



Pedro and I had some things to talk about. Did we really want to move? We loved our house and finally started getting it to where we wanted it. On the other hand, could we get the house for a great price since it had been on the market for 18 months. Wow. Decisions, decisions. What should we do?

What did we do?

***100 % Actual photos***

Dream Home, part 1: because I could go on for days.

I don't think I've ever talked about this before, but I have a very clear picture of my dream home. Two pictures in fact for my two very different homes. The first one is a small beach bungalow. Not a home just a few blocks from the beach, I'm talking a house built in the sand, baby! It's fresh and airy and just fits my little family. I would be caught most days chasing my kids around on the beach in a swimsuit (without muffin top of course). The inside would be simple and crisp and mostly white-washed wood and I promise I'd never complain about sweeping the tracked-in sand 8 times each day. Dinners woud most likely consist of fresh fish thrown on the grill with roasted veggies and a tart and salty margarita to sip.

Think something like...






My other dream house couldn't be more different. It would again be small but nearly completely wooded; It would be a log cabin. It would have big rustic logs as beams, ceilings would not exist in this home. The fireplace would be crackling as I sip my coffee on my distressed leather furniture. The room wouldn't be a perfect picture without a brown and white cowhide beneath my feet. Ah, there, now I am in love.

Think something like...





Beautiful, no? I know they are as different as can be, but I like to think of it as being prepared. Prepared for the day I have more money than GOD! Who wouldn't want a warm weather house and also a cozy inviting log cabin?

Guess what? We found one of these two houses.

Still kickin' it.

Hi there. How YOU doin'? So much has been going on here, but I 've just not wanted to write lately.

Pedro came down with the flu last Friday and while I wanted to take care of him and make sure he was OK, I wanted nothing more than to stay away! The rest of us had been healthy for just one week, we couldn't get a whole other flu again! It would be the death of me. Each time Pedro would run to throw a puker, I'd get my bucket with hot water and disinfectant and be ready to sanitize the bathroom. Psycho much? We are all healthy and we never got it!

Saturday my sister and I threw a baby shower for my brother's girlfriend who is having a baby in just a few weeks. It was perfect! My mom was there and I did my best to not be all weird. I probably didn't do so well. We talked fluff- about the cupcakes and my cinnamon rolls and that was about it. We haven't talked since.

I need a girls night out. Bad! Any takers?

P.S .We put an offer in on a house. Want to hear about it? Next.

In with a BANG!

Today my mom and I got in a fight. It was a huge, nasty, dirty fight. It was by far the worst adult fight that I've ever had with her and I feel sick about it. The hard thing is that I said everything I've been needing to say for years but my delivery? Sucked! I turned into a person that I am not and never want to be.

If there is a good part that has come from this, it makes me value my babies that much more. I want to be the best mom I can be in 2008. I want to yell less. I want to play more. I don't ever, ever want to scare them. This is who I want to be.