5 kids under 5 (1 of which is newly mobile).
3 bad-ass mothers.
3 surfboards.
endless amounts of beach crap to entertain the 5 kids under 5, plus lunch.
One spectacularly beautiful day, no wind, perfect temp and clear water.
All three of us actually got in the water and caught some waves. MIRACLE. It was AWESOME. We are bad-ass mothers!
And, somehow, I scored and got to be the repeat surf mom (no one wants to go by herself). I didn't have to watch all 5 kids by my self...I am in debt for the next time!
There was a little bit of a creep factor...It was apparently National Geographic Day and we didn't get the memo in advance. We saw dolphins surfing our same waves, a friendly little otter, a couple of seals, copius amounts of sea birds including one low-flying pelican and lots and lots of sand dollars. We tried not to think about any other "animals" that could be out there with us and pondered the question, "Do otters bite?"
Maybe EMK will post some pics, hopefully, not of me in my wetsuit though!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Kitty and Dashy
I am just guessing on the spelling of Dashy (Dashie, Dashee), SO came up with it and it is, so far, the only animal or toy that has a name other than what it is i.e. Kitty, Horsey, Lambie, etc...
But the reason for this post is because Kitty, Horsey and Dashy (Scotty Dog) have disappeared. Yes, I have looked in the bed, in the dressers, in her brother's room, in my room, in the closets, behind the towels, in the bins of clothes that the kids do not fit into...I HAVE LOOKED EVERY WHERE. Now, since I know how special these particular little animal friends are, I do not let her take them outside to play with to ensure that a certain dog, who also loves a good stuffed animal, albeit for different reasons, does not get a hold of them. And we have not seen any evidence to suggest that this is where they met their demise. I also don't let her take them to school because I never remember to bring the things home that we take. They are not in my car or at either Grandparents house. I do not know where they could possibly be.
I have retraced our steps to the couple of days before the disappearance (I used to watch CSI so feel as if I am an expert in crime solving). Unfortunately, the day they went missing was 2 days before my husband and I left for our anniversary weekend. I had, of course, spent this time COMPLETELY REARRANGING MY HOUSE. I cleaned out the kids closets and put all of the too big and too small clothes into storage bins. I moved all of my bedroom furniture out of our room and into my son's room, while switching one dresser from SO's room to VO's room and another from VO's room to SO's room. I moved "new to me" bedroom furniture into my room. So needless to say, this opened up the possible places for the missing trio to be! But I have looked multiple times in the places I would think them to be and I still cannot find them. I think I even feel a little responsible for the fact that they are missing as I did leave a whole lot of additional places for them to be put and forgotton about over the course of about a week. Does that make me an accessory? And yes, I have asked her where she put them and she does not remember.
I thought I would post them here instead of on the back of a milk carton...
Oh, did I mention that these were Ty Beanie Babies? And I am not a collector, these are toys, given to my daughter, so yeah, I cut the tags off. She asks me to, she is not of a fan of the tags or "pokeys" as she refers to them. Did I write down the official name of the animal? Are you kidding? Of course not! However, that is where I made my mistake. If I could take a moment and make a small suggestion to the Beanie Baby creators and webmaster...would you mind putting in a search function so that a mom, like myself, could type in "Horse" and then just have all the horses come up to peruse? I really do not think that is too much to ask and could even help out the most avid collector who may not know the name of the creature they are looking for.
But as for now, they do not have a search function. So you can search ALL, CURRENT or RETIRED. Personally, I have no f-ing clue as to what these could be, but knowing my luck, I am guessing retired...but I choose to search through all of them, just to be sure. OVER 1300 OPTIONS TO SCROLL THROUGH. Yes, that is right, over 1300 stupid animals stuffed with beans that I perused through. I had to find the name of the animals in question before I could even begin to search for them on any other purchasing site. I did have success on 2 out 3 of the missing creatures and hopefully Kitty (a Siamese cat named Orient) and Dashy (a Scotty dog actually named Dundee) will be arriving at my house via some lovely E-Bay sellers by the end of the week...Thank goodness these are not some crazy special edition collector's items, otherwise I am sure the $2-$3 price tag each would have most likely been a little (or a lot) higher.
And I think I have figured out that Horsey is not a Beanie Baby as he was not on any of the lists. I am debating whether or not to call the hotel in Texas where I know my Mother-in-Law purchased the horse during one of their vacations a year or two ago...but I have not decided yet...I think I will see how we react to getting Kitty and Dashy back and see if we even have a mention of Horsey. But I have a feeling that I am going to be making a long distance phone call and subsequent credit card purchase from a Texas resort inthe near future. Do you think that will be enough of resititution for my part in the disappearance?
Also, anyone want to make a bet on how long after the new Kitty and Dashy arrive that we locate the missing threesome???
But the reason for this post is because Kitty, Horsey and Dashy (Scotty Dog) have disappeared. Yes, I have looked in the bed, in the dressers, in her brother's room, in my room, in the closets, behind the towels, in the bins of clothes that the kids do not fit into...I HAVE LOOKED EVERY WHERE. Now, since I know how special these particular little animal friends are, I do not let her take them outside to play with to ensure that a certain dog, who also loves a good stuffed animal, albeit for different reasons, does not get a hold of them. And we have not seen any evidence to suggest that this is where they met their demise. I also don't let her take them to school because I never remember to bring the things home that we take. They are not in my car or at either Grandparents house. I do not know where they could possibly be.
I have retraced our steps to the couple of days before the disappearance (I used to watch CSI so feel as if I am an expert in crime solving). Unfortunately, the day they went missing was 2 days before my husband and I left for our anniversary weekend. I had, of course, spent this time COMPLETELY REARRANGING MY HOUSE. I cleaned out the kids closets and put all of the too big and too small clothes into storage bins. I moved all of my bedroom furniture out of our room and into my son's room, while switching one dresser from SO's room to VO's room and another from VO's room to SO's room. I moved "new to me" bedroom furniture into my room. So needless to say, this opened up the possible places for the missing trio to be! But I have looked multiple times in the places I would think them to be and I still cannot find them. I think I even feel a little responsible for the fact that they are missing as I did leave a whole lot of additional places for them to be put and forgotton about over the course of about a week. Does that make me an accessory? And yes, I have asked her where she put them and she does not remember.
I thought I would post them here instead of on the back of a milk carton...
Oh, did I mention that these were Ty Beanie Babies? And I am not a collector, these are toys, given to my daughter, so yeah, I cut the tags off. She asks me to, she is not of a fan of the tags or "pokeys" as she refers to them. Did I write down the official name of the animal? Are you kidding? Of course not! However, that is where I made my mistake. If I could take a moment and make a small suggestion to the Beanie Baby creators and webmaster...would you mind putting in a search function so that a mom, like myself, could type in "Horse" and then just have all the horses come up to peruse? I really do not think that is too much to ask and could even help out the most avid collector who may not know the name of the creature they are looking for.
But as for now, they do not have a search function. So you can search ALL, CURRENT or RETIRED. Personally, I have no f-ing clue as to what these could be, but knowing my luck, I am guessing retired...but I choose to search through all of them, just to be sure. OVER 1300 OPTIONS TO SCROLL THROUGH. Yes, that is right, over 1300 stupid animals stuffed with beans that I perused through. I had to find the name of the animals in question before I could even begin to search for them on any other purchasing site. I did have success on 2 out 3 of the missing creatures and hopefully Kitty (a Siamese cat named Orient) and Dashy (a Scotty dog actually named Dundee) will be arriving at my house via some lovely E-Bay sellers by the end of the week...Thank goodness these are not some crazy special edition collector's items, otherwise I am sure the $2-$3 price tag each would have most likely been a little (or a lot) higher.
And I think I have figured out that Horsey is not a Beanie Baby as he was not on any of the lists. I am debating whether or not to call the hotel in Texas where I know my Mother-in-Law purchased the horse during one of their vacations a year or two ago...but I have not decided yet...I think I will see how we react to getting Kitty and Dashy back and see if we even have a mention of Horsey. But I have a feeling that I am going to be making a long distance phone call and subsequent credit card purchase from a Texas resort inthe near future. Do you think that will be enough of resititution for my part in the disappearance?
Also, anyone want to make a bet on how long after the new Kitty and Dashy arrive that we locate the missing threesome???
Friday, August 29, 2008
The Much Requested Polenta Recipe
Okay...here it is. Seriously, it is so easy and the possibilities are endless!
The basics behind it are just a little ratio 1:3...1 cup polenta (dry corn meal, corn grits, NOT the stuff in the tube) to 3 cups of liquid. To make more, just increase the ratio 2:6, etc...
Here is what I do when I am just making dinner for the 4 of us and this leaves a little bit of left overs.
1 cup Corn Meal (My personal preference is Bob's Red Mill Organic Coarse Corn Meal)
1 1/2 cup chicken stock (organic, free-range from Trader Joe's)
1 1/2 cup milk (Strauss Family Organic)
salt and pepper
The chicken stock adds good flavor, if you are a vegetarian, vegetable stock will work fabulously. The milk makes it creamy. You can make it all chicken stock, all milk or you can use water if you don't have anything else and if you are adding flavorful ingredients to it after it is made.
Bring your liquids to a boil(just barely if you are using milk). Turn the heat to low, add salt and pepper to taste and then whisk in the corn meal slowly to avoid lumps. Let the polenta cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally and don't let it get too thick. If it does get too thick, add a little more liquid of choice and a little butter. Then you can add whatever you want to mix in. I like to add in shredded jack cheese and diced green chilis, or caramelized onions, feta and sun dried tomatoes or just a big handful of shredded cheddar.
Now, you can eat it this way, soft, creamy polenta or you can spread it onto a sheet pan (cookie sheet) and refrigerate overnight. Cut the chilled polenta into cakes and bake at 400 degrees in the oven until the tops gets crunchy. Can be used as a side dish or as main course.
The basics behind it are just a little ratio 1:3...1 cup polenta (dry corn meal, corn grits, NOT the stuff in the tube) to 3 cups of liquid. To make more, just increase the ratio 2:6, etc...
Here is what I do when I am just making dinner for the 4 of us and this leaves a little bit of left overs.
1 cup Corn Meal (My personal preference is Bob's Red Mill Organic Coarse Corn Meal)
1 1/2 cup chicken stock (organic, free-range from Trader Joe's)
1 1/2 cup milk (Strauss Family Organic)
salt and pepper
The chicken stock adds good flavor, if you are a vegetarian, vegetable stock will work fabulously. The milk makes it creamy. You can make it all chicken stock, all milk or you can use water if you don't have anything else and if you are adding flavorful ingredients to it after it is made.
Bring your liquids to a boil(just barely if you are using milk). Turn the heat to low, add salt and pepper to taste and then whisk in the corn meal slowly to avoid lumps. Let the polenta cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally and don't let it get too thick. If it does get too thick, add a little more liquid of choice and a little butter. Then you can add whatever you want to mix in. I like to add in shredded jack cheese and diced green chilis, or caramelized onions, feta and sun dried tomatoes or just a big handful of shredded cheddar.
Now, you can eat it this way, soft, creamy polenta or you can spread it onto a sheet pan (cookie sheet) and refrigerate overnight. Cut the chilled polenta into cakes and bake at 400 degrees in the oven until the tops gets crunchy. Can be used as a side dish or as main course.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Gypsy Mama
I have just completed my third move in a year. I am actually wondering if that is an accurate number because it is possible that I blocked one out. Be that as it may, as I was sifting through all the trinkets that a four year old boy turns up with, I was at a complete loss for what the heck to do with all this stuff. A wide assortment of plastic bugs, a million bottles of bubbles, several hundred rocks of all different shapes, sizes and colors mixed in with dirt, feathers, an ant farm full of dead ants, and pieces to toys that I can't even identify. What is a woman on the move to do? Pile it all into a bag and donate it? Dump it in the landfill? Organize it? Who has time? Life is happening all around us. No way I am going to spend hours figuring out where this stuff belongs in our lives. The 4 year old has long since forgotten about every single one of these objects, he lives his life in the moment, and is fully engaged with fitting the tops of markers on his fingers. At this point I would like to raise a glass to the Veterans truck outside of Target that will accept bags of randomness with a smile. Not only do they risk their lives in service, but they make use of all of the unbelievable clutter that can gather in a 4 year old's room. Cheers!
The question I pose to all of you dear friends is this. What is a mom to do with all of the preschool projects? The plastic bag filled with some strange substance with crepe paper atatched, the paper plate covered in yellow paint and sunflower seeds, the gingerbread man, the hand turkeys,the blue string covered in glitter glue( a personal favorite). You all know what I am talking about. Your house is full of these beautiful artifacts. Am I bad mom because I just toss them into the recycle bin? I looked lovingly at each project, thought about all that it took to construct it, and then slam dunked it into the recycle bin. Do you think that jelly substance is recyclable? This is what I figure...I may go to great lengths to preserve these bits of artistic development. But when I bust them out when this 4 year old is an adult he will only think I am totally nuts. Then what do I do? Give them back to him so he can muse about his great achievements? Hand the box over to his wife so she can think I am nuts? Spend my senior years lovingly recalling the good old days? God, I hope not. I hope I am in France with you guys. No. Call me a bad mom if you want. But I am not keeping anymore superfluous pieces of paper. I am going to spread my wings and rid myself of all of 4 year old baggage!!!!
Please just don't ask me to get rid of anymore of my wardrobe, or shoe collection!
XXOO
The question I pose to all of you dear friends is this. What is a mom to do with all of the preschool projects? The plastic bag filled with some strange substance with crepe paper atatched, the paper plate covered in yellow paint and sunflower seeds, the gingerbread man, the hand turkeys,the blue string covered in glitter glue( a personal favorite). You all know what I am talking about. Your house is full of these beautiful artifacts. Am I bad mom because I just toss them into the recycle bin? I looked lovingly at each project, thought about all that it took to construct it, and then slam dunked it into the recycle bin. Do you think that jelly substance is recyclable? This is what I figure...I may go to great lengths to preserve these bits of artistic development. But when I bust them out when this 4 year old is an adult he will only think I am totally nuts. Then what do I do? Give them back to him so he can muse about his great achievements? Hand the box over to his wife so she can think I am nuts? Spend my senior years lovingly recalling the good old days? God, I hope not. I hope I am in France with you guys. No. Call me a bad mom if you want. But I am not keeping anymore superfluous pieces of paper. I am going to spread my wings and rid myself of all of 4 year old baggage!!!!
Please just don't ask me to get rid of anymore of my wardrobe, or shoe collection!
XXOO
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Put This On Your Calendar
I may regret posting this for all to see, but then I would be racked with guilt that I knew something and didn't share. I already feel regret that I found about this amazing sale AFTER it was in San Francisco and that I missed the Portland sale by about 4 weeks. I will NOT miss it this time and you don't have to either...just don't go buying something that I want!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
