One word Wednesday - Slippers

Always fun to see the things daddy buys them while I'm away...

This Week's Eats - Hungover Edition

SO...  Long story short: going to my high school's 20 year reunion was a great decision and a wonderful experience all around.  I'll probably talk more about it later, when I'm not so tired.  Here's a favorite before/after picture, so that you can see what happens to a person in 20 years.  Hint: it's ALL GOOD, man.


Illini Sorority Rush September 1992

 

Reunion September 2012

I haven't closed down a bar at 3 AM in a looooooong time.  And then I had to get on a flight home the next day that didn't land until late at night.  Thankfully, my husband is ridiculously awesome and took Monday off (after already flying solo with the kids for four days) so that I could rest. 

I'm pretty darn proud of myself for getting the list together and shopping after putting in five (albeit slow) miles this morning.  Heck, I even made the meatloaf already.  Although, I did fall asleep on the couch by accident after the kids went to rest...  Here's this week's eats, for Tuesday onward.  And, yes, we ordered a pizza last night.

• Tuesday - meatloaf and roasted new potatoes (here's a recipe that's exactly like ours, from Food Lush)
• Wednesday - crab stuffed flounder filets from Trader Joes with wild rice and broccoli
• Thursday - spaghetti with ground turkey (pretty much the same sauce recipe as our arrabiata, but with ground turkey)
• Friday - spicy avocado and chicken enchiladas (yay, found leftover sauce in the freezer, making this a super easy meal)
• Saturday - chicken parmesan (tried and true Tyler Florence recipe)
• Sunday - chopped salads with chicken, romaine, diced tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, red onion, crispy prosciutto and homemade champagne vinaigrette.

Friday Things - Reunion Edition

Just doing a quick Friday check in while on my little vacay.  So far, so good!  I got myself a real (ie, Vienna Beef) hot dog for dinner last night and I'm spending some quality time with my mom today.  We got done with our pedicures this morning and are relaxing at home in our sweats with celebrity mags and coffee.  Ahhh.

And, not only is it my 20 year high school reunion tomorrow, today is my 10th wedding anniversary.

So, I suppose we're goin' radical with a 10 year gift of a girls weekend trip.  Oh well, we're all messed up anyway because he gave me diamonds (modern 10 year gift) at our eight year anniversary  and I can't fathom what I'd get that's tin or aluminum, which is the traditional 10 year gift...

Moving on, in honor of my high school reunion, I thought I'd add a good early 90s tune to the playlist.  Yes, Chains of Love is a great song and the most memorable Erasure tune, but I have a soft spot for Chorus.  Enjoy, and happy weekend!

Cinema by Benny Benassi (9/21/12)
Take a Walk - Passion Pit (9/14/12)
Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold (9/7/12)
Space Invaders - Mark Norman (8/31/12)
Beautiful People - Chris Brown feat. Benny Benassi (8/23/12)
Ass Back Home - Gym Class Heroes (8/23/12)
The Veldt - Cover Pop tribute to Deadmau5 & Chris James (8/23/12)
Without You - David Guetta feat. Usher (8/23/12)
Good Time - Owl City feat. Carly Rae Jepsen (8/17/12)
Addiction - Medina (8/3/12)
We Run the Night - Havana Brown feat. Pitbull (7/27/12)
The Night Out - Martin Solveig (7/20/12)
Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells (7/13/12)
Sun is Up - Two Times (7/06/12)
Steam Machine - Daft Punk (6/29/12)
Arguru - Deadmau5 (6/22/12)
Now or Never - Outasight (6/15/12)
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns Remix (6/08/12)
Young Blood - The Naked and Famous remixed by Tiesto (5/18/12)
Call me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (4/6/12) 

One Word Wednesday - Reunion



20 years - TWENTY since this photo was taken with my besties, my co-maids of honor at our wedding, and my dearest friends.  Can't wait to see 'em this weekend!  Man, I wish I still had those suhweeeet purple Oakleys...



Mama Needs a Vacation

(alternate title: 'Wherein I get Whiny About How Much Kids Can Suck' please disregard if you'd rather not commiserate while I disregard social media etiquette and vent some frustration.)

It's a rather happy coincidence that I'm getting a vacation from my kids soon, because, man... They are wonderful, sweet, funny, awesome little people that I love with the fire of a thousand suns. BUT, there are times (daily, and sometimes alllll day) that I want to smack them upside the head and run screaming for the hills.  Yesterday, my two year old threw a fit because she decided she wanted to brush her teeth again as we were leaving the house. The HELL? So she throws a full on fit about it and I have to wrangle her into her seat so big brother doesn't miss the bus.

Kind of like 'The Rod' but with more action.

She has random outbursts over God only knows what at least twice a day.  Uh oh, someone breathed on her wrong!  And the five year old is just one big ball of "no!" and "I don't WANT to ___."  You can fill in the blank with pretty much anything: brush my teeth, wash my hands, take a time out, stop grabbing toys from my sister, hand you the remote, DO ANY SIMPLE THING YOU ASK ME TO OMG. Hooo boy! Can you tell I'm feeling a bit at the end of my rope??  I know it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but doling out consequences (that don't ever seem to sink in) every hour of the day makes me a bit stressed and crazy.

I know that the defiant behavior is a way for kids to assert their independence and that they all do it to some degree.  Er, don't they??  And I'm sure it's due, in large part, to the adjustment to elementary school.  It's a huge adjustment for ME.  The whole Kindergarten thing is a lot more exhausting than I thought it would be.  Sure, it's nice to be back in a school routine and to have some time apart for a few hours a day; he's only in half day K.  But, man, the morning routine is way more stressful than ever.  Not only is it earlier than preschool, but there's the waiting at the busy street for the bus, the need to REALLY be there on time, and the homework!  Not only does he have his fair share for a Kindergartner (and, let's be honest, it's homework for BOTH of us), but I feel like I could build a bonfire with the amount of paperwork that comes home for me on a daily basis.  Fundraising, PTA, conference scheduling, school pictures, forms, forms, forms.   GAH.

To top everything off, I decided to do a co-op preschool with my daughter.  I had a great experience with her in a Toddler Group program, so I thought it'd be fun to give the co-op thing another go.  Aaaaaand, wouldn't ya know, she's just as much of a pain as her brother was on my working day.  Sure, she doesn't throw tantrums as badly and is fine with transitions, but she sure is a stage five clinger which is sort of new territory for me - big brother: not so clingy.  And when I have to do work in the classroom and can't be at her beck and call, she clings to my leg and screams bloody murder to pick her up.  She doesn't sit for snack, doesn't get in line to go outside, etc.  I know that it's only been two weeks and that it's a phase, because everything with kids is totally a phase and she was FINE with detaching herself in toddler group; but while we're adjusting to life with a defiant little Kindergartner, it kinda SUCKS. 

My day goes something like this: rush around all morning while two people under four feet tall fight with me at every turn, rush to co-op after the bus stop to have the two year old cling and screech at me for about two hours, rush home to pick up the five year old from the bus so that he can find something to fight with me about (I'm thirsty mommy, did you bring my water bottle? To the bus stop? Noooo, we can walk 25 feet to the house to get it.  Cue FREAKOUT), after the lunch chaos I attempt to get the girl child to nap (FAIL!) and the boy child to spend time in his room (riiiight), try to sit down and decompress with some coffee for about 20 minutes before the doorbell rings and the neighbor kids start gallivanting around our houses and wake up the girl child (if she wasn't awake already).  Oh and add about two or three fights with the five year old about what he can and can't do with the neighbor kids (no you can't ride your bike down the hill like the seven year old) - lather, rinse, repeat.  Yes, we have some fun and copacetic moments in there around lunchtime when we go out in the backyard to play or color/do homework at the kitchen table.  And, of course, all is well when Daddy is home - because when he uses the techniques from the parenting books, they just work like an effing CHARM.

ANYHOO!  That felt good to get some of this stuff off my chest.  If you're still with me here, I'm presuming you have kids - dealing with the same?  Had wee ones that acted the same and are now PERFECT ANGELS??






This Week's Eats

Aieeeeee - a short week of meals, 'cause I'm outta here on Thursday for my little Chicago trip. 

• Monday - no pizza!  We pushed back taco bowls for tonight/Monday night football viewing and went out for Cheesecake Factory over the weekend - my craving for the Tuna Tataki salad could no longer be ignored.  And pizza will be a nice easy meal for my husband to make with the kids while I'm away.
• Tuesday - angel hair with pomodoro sauce
• Wednesday - artichoke chicken (recipe on this post)
• Thursday - chicken paprikash: my husband is a fan of this one and I got really sick of it a few years ago, so we never make it anymore.  He's taking advantage of my absence to whip it up and I thought I'd share the recipe here, as it's a good chicken recipe from Cooking Light if you're looking for something new and different to try.

I know I'll be eating lots of Italian food this weekend, as my friends and I are doing dinner at one of the Francesca's restaurants on Friday and our reunion on Saturday is at one of the Rosebud restaurants downtown.  Hopefully there'll be some Portillos and Chicago pizza to round out the week for me, I might try and get the gang to hit Xoco on Saturday for lunch if we have time.  Excuse me while I go wipe the drool off of my computer...

Friday Things

I started reading blogs back when a few friends had accounts on Diaryland - anyone remember that site?  Then a few years later, we had a temp in the office who was really cool and shared her blog addy with us.  It was HILARIOUS and I was hooked.  Apparently, lots of people agreed with the hilarity, and Bitter became the New Black.  (BTW, if you ever read the book - I worked for the company that was in the Sears Tower where she freaked out over all of our emergency supplies while we were on a retreat. Hah.)  As a veteran blog-reader, I've kept up with the face of mommy blogging, Dooce, on and off over the years.  I loved following along with her journey to 26.2, with Christy Turlington and Every Mother Counts.  I'm BEYOND excited to (virtually) cheer for Sally in the ING New York City Marathon and that Oiselle has partnered with this very worthwhile cause.  I just love that it all started from an invitation to go for a run, and on Twitter.  You never know.  Take chances. 



When these, and other goodies, are for sale on the website - I'll pester y'all and let you know.  40% goes to EMC

Speaking of bloggers, one of my absolute favorites is Sundry.  She shared this on her site the other day, love:

Friday addition to the playlist: this has been on my David Guetta Pandora station for awhile, and I dig it; thought you might, too.  Happy weekend!

Cinema by Benny Benassi


Friday Playlist

Take a Walk - Passion Pit (9/14/12)
Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold (9/7/12)
Space Invaders - Mark Norman (8/31/12)
Beautiful People - Chris Brown feat. Benny Benassi (8/23/12)
Ass Back Home - Gym Class Heroes (8/23/12)
The Veldt - Cover Pop tribute to Deadmau5 & Chris James (8/23/12)
Without You - David Guetta feat. Usher (8/23/12)
Good Time - Owl City feat. Carly Rae Jepsen (8/17/12)
Addiction - Medina (8/3/12)
We Run the Night - Havana Brown feat. Pitbull (7/27/12)
The Night Out - Martin Solveig (7/20/12)
Tell 'Em - Sleigh Bells (7/13/12)
Sun is Up - Two Times (7/06/12)
Steam Machine - Daft Punk (6/29/12)
Arguru - Deadmau5 (6/22/12)
Now or Never - Outasight (6/15/12)
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns Remix (6/08/12)
Young Blood - The Naked and Famous remixed by Tiesto (5/18/12)
Call me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (4/6/12)