A Watched Pot Never Boils

Yeah, I've heard that before but I'm SO ANXIOUSLY AWAITING MY BOOKS I CAN'T STAND IT!

I'm been saving and cataloging all the information I'm receiving on the freezer cooking I can but I'm waiting on my four resources that I recently purchased and WHY ARENT THEY HERE YET DAG NABBIT?!

I'll share my anticipated goodies with you anyhow.

The first book is called "Sleep On It" and features meals that you mostly prepare ahead of time and then have minimal (if any) prep work to do the next day when it's time to eat so you can actually enjoy your family/company/guests.



The second book is called Fix Freeze Feast and is all about bulk cooking. I have heard GREAT things about this one and really look forward into adding some of the recipes (over 125) to my menu rotation! WOO HOO!

The third book is called Dream Dinners. It was actually a book that was recommended by a blogger that I love and respect who is also a once a month cooker! There used to be a franchise around where you could go and prepare your own meals to take home and freeze called Dream Dinners -- I'm sure it's the same founders! Hopefully they'll share some of their delicious meals with me in this! I can't wait to devour every page!

And then, there's Don't Panic -- Dinner's in the Freezer! I've been coveting this book so long it's like... stupid that I never bought it before now! And, of course, there's a sequel to this one but since I don't even have the first in the series, I'll wait on the sequel (perhaps) but not too long!

And lastly, there's the Once A Month Cooking book. Again, another book that was recommended and taht I'd heard great things about but never purchased. Why? I don't know but I just know that I NEED it now! Ha ha!

So, between THIS, the blogs I'm frequently lurking about on and my ridiculous, anal-retentativeness with planning and organization, I should have myself all set up and ready to go for March's cooking fiesta!

I can't wait! Stay tuned because I will CERTAINLY be sure to review and share the recipes that I try.

Decorative Bedding!

WOO HOO.. I finally did it. I made a freakin decision! I feel so proud. Since I'm in the mode of nesting, decorating, purging, I've been looking for some bedding for my bedroom. My room has FAR too much brown in it. The bedding has ALWAYS been brown (except for the one time I purchased something with some red/navy blue in it. It was nice but still TOO dark!) The walls are taupe with white trim and crown molding. The carpet was taupe (notice I saw WAS because I ripped it up and now it's bare concrete.) The curtains.... yeah, you guessed it - taupe. The furniture, dark cherry wood. It's FAR too much brown and lacking in any sort of color. So instead of painting the walls (which I secretely wanted to do a bluish-grey) I opted to change out the bedding and I LOVE THE LOOK OF WHAT I GOT! I couldn't be happier!

Since my bathroom is completely void of color, too, I'm painting the cabinets black. With the contrasting white flooring, white/light taupe wallpaper and white countertop I think this will all just blend together beautifully! Now to figure out how to add a few pops of color here and there...any ideas? I'm just so excited!!!

Thankful Thursdays

It's that time of the week again, Thankful Thursday! Today's letter is "D"..

• Drew (my son)
• Dad (he's my hero)
• Dogs (they are just the highlight of my bad days... unconditional love)
• Daisies (they remind me of my mom -- they're her favorite flower)
• Daylight (because the sunshine can make anyone feel better)
• Dumdums (they're just the right amount of sweet and small enough to not give me guilt)
• DVD players (because sometimes moms need a break!)
• Delivery! (because sometimes you just don't want to cook)
• Donuts (because sometimes you don't want to make breakfast on a weekend -- Drew lives for Donut day)
• Dreams (because without them, what daily purpose do we have? We should always seek to reach our dreams)
• Diamonds (because I really miss mine... :( regardless of how materialistic it is to covet another one, I do... I miss my beautiful symbol)
• Diet Big Red (because that's my morning caffiene fix and I LOVE IT!)
• Drummers (because where would bands like Motley Crue, The Eagles and Def Leppard be without amazing drummers!)

So what are you thankful for?

The North Face

One of my favorite blogs that I look forward to getting in my in box is this fun little blog called The Mommy Files. She's got a GREAT giveaway goign on right now where you can win a handsome jacket from The North Face. Read about it HERE. I hope you enter! I just think it's a good thing or I certainly wouldn't waste my blog space for it! Good luck!

Today's morning

It was a great morning. I was up early, the kids got their cinnamon rolls ready. I have a policy that whomever is up first for breakfast usually gets to ask for whatever they want unless I've already got something planned, so Drew was up first. His choice won. I packed his lunch for school (the standard: 1/2 of a sun butter (sunflower seed "peanut" butter) and strawberry jelly sandwich, chocolate milk, GoGurt, bag of chips and a banana) and then and I got a shower and ready. I ate earlier (a banana and a cup of milk) since I had my glucose test today at Dr. Cowen's office. The boys got themselves ready and we were out the door on time...

Enroute to Drew's school, I drank that nasty super duper sticky sweet orange drink that you have to have an hour before the appointment. Made it to Drew's school on time but late to the doctor's office because there was NO parking. It's crazy that even with that new huge parking garage they opened, there's no place to park there ever. Hate that but hey, we can always use the exercise. We were finished at 11 so I went by the bank to get some cash out and then Josh and I went to Chipotle - YUM-O! Typically, I can eat an ENTIRE veggie burrito. Granted, I'm stuffed afterwards for the most part of the rest of the day. Now, however, I can eat half. Next time, I'll just split one with Josh. Half price! What a bargain!

While we were there, he had a few good ones -- I don't even remember the conversation we were having but it he was doing something goofy like going back and forth in his booth seat like a pendulem so I was following him with my eyes only (imagine watchign a tennis match by only moving your eyes). He said, "Medusa." I was like, "What's Medusa got to do with Chipotle?" He said, "You know that painting of that lady wher ethey say her eyes follow you every where?" I said, "... you mean the Mona Lisa?" With that, I began laughing hysterically. He said, "You're going to put that on Facebook aren't you?" I just smiled and said, "No, but it'll go on my blog.... mythological creature... classic masterpiece... Hmmmmm."

He's working on his math right now... I'm trying to get a plan! We stopped by Michaels to get goodies to make for the grandmothers and grandfathers. I'm opposed to spending an exhorbitant amount of money on a stupid evening for an over-rated holiday so I'd rather spend it WITH the people that I love, not surrounded by tons of strangers in a restaurant. So, we're having it here at the house. More on that later!

Laziness b/c of the Internet

Ha ha... did you notice that even I was lazy in even typing the title of this entry because everyone KNOWS that b/c means "because"... ha ha ha! Now that's funny!

Anywho, I'm on Facebook and since I have an e-mail address, I routinely get e-mail forwards from people wanting me to "join a cause" or "sign this petition" when people don't realize that these things DO NOT MATTER! If you truly feel strongly enough to do something, clicking on a button or adding your name to a list that will never see the 18 lb. paper it should be printed upon doesn't make a hill of beans difference to the cause. I never fill them out. I never forward them. I never add my name. It's not that I don't care. I just know that THAT is not what matters. What needs to happen is that if people want to be supporters of a cause or a movement, they need to become PART of that movement. The internet has made us lazy into thinking that adding our name to a list makes a difference and it simply DOES NOT.

HOWEVER, there ARE causes out there where your click DOES matter and the point in case is the Pepsi Refresh Project. Pepsi is giving $1.3M in grants to programs and ideas that are voted on BY YOU!!! They have categories from health to arts & culture to food & shelter to the planet to neighbors to education. The ideas are a plenty... the causes are worthy and now it's time for YOU to take the initiative to VOTE! You get to vote a few times a day so why not use your clicker to make your vote count for something YOU really stand behind!

The NFL is even on the bandwagon with one of the 3 finalist's ideas getting $100K to their cause. Mark Sanchez, Demarcus Ware and Drew Brees all have ideas up for vote -- PICK ONE! Here's the link so you have no excuse! VOTE HERE Take a moment to review the videos. I'm not going to say that any one is better than the other because I certainly love all three ideas. I, personally, voted for Demarcus Ware's idea because I believe you have to give children hope and give them an opportunity to be kids. However, I'd be happy for any of the ideas to be chosen!

So, indulge the laziness now and VOTE!

Productive Day

Today was a rather productive day. Wake up to the sound of my little one on the computer logging into Pogo.com to play a game or two of Safari Mah-jong. I grabbed a quick shower, did the whole "mom uniform" thing (you know, sweats, comfy shirt, tennis shoes), dabbed on a spot of make-up, pulled the ole mop back into a tie and went to the kitchen to start my day.

Drew wanted waffles for breakfast. Good thing because that was right up my alley today. We got waffled up. I called upstairs because another little sleepyhead forgot to set his alarm and was still snoozing at 8:30 a.m. (when he was supposed to be up at 7:00 a.m.)

Today is "Pat day." It's the day my housekeeper comes. I look forward to this more than a lot of things. I just feel the stress lifted from my shoulders knowing that my house is dusted, mopped, vacuumed and neatened. I am thankful for my Pat days.

Today was also "Jungle class" for Drew and acting class for Josh. We hit the road, deposited Drew at class (it's only from 10am to 11:50am) and headed straight for Hobby Lobby. Why Hobby Lobby? I purchased three candle warmers because everyone I know loves them and uses them and swears they make your candles last 10 times longer. It's like the base of a coffee pot or a little hot pad. You set a candle that's in a metal or glass container on it and it heats from the bottom up melts the wax which makes the aroma of the candle fantastic and then dries beautifully back to normal without any weird melting spots and no suit accumulating in your house bit by bit. I went upstairs and plugged in this one thinking how wonderful it was goign to be to have a candle upstairs without worrying about the flame... only when I went upstairs on Friday to check it out, the glass had shattered and there was hot wax all over my $2K table! I was FREAKING OUT! I did everything by the rules on the package. SO, needless to say, the broken glass/melted candle and all three of the hot pads went back to Hobby Lobby this morning. From there I hit Whataburger for a taquito (I was starving!) and headed to take Josh to acting class.

I came home, picked up a couple of packages that I needed to mail as well as a text book that someone had purchased from me. I then went to pick up Drew, pick up Josh and we went to meet Andy for lunch. Drew wanted to see his daddy. With my ever expanding waistline, I can't eat even an "average" sized meal anymore without my ribs feeling like they're going to be at max capacity and potentially explode. UGH. I can't believe I have two more months of this misery! Petite and pregnant SUCKS!

We came home. Drew wanted to see his Mimi so we phoned. No answer and left her a message. I began school with Josh around 2pm. Yeah, we were late bloomers today. We'd started with spelling but he didn't do so hot... missed 6 of the first 8 words. We generally make it through quite a few before we have to stop because he accumulates a total of six. Therefore, he was bummed. Oh well. He did a great job on his math test from Friday, however - 91. We left to take Drew to his Mimi's and then came back and got started.

I am finding my temper is a little shorter but I'm also realizing my kids need to react the first time I ask something. Constant reminders and nagging only lead to short attention spans and disobedience so, here is your rule, here is your consequence, I hope you choose wisely.

I did get two pair of jeans that I'd purchased off e-bay in the mail today. One is like a foot too long. I hate tall people! ha ha! :) JUST KIDDING. It's hard to buy jeans at my height because I'm like just a hint too short for petite clothes but "regular" are generally too long. It really sucks sometimes. Especially when you're in desparate need of jeans! I was really hoping the two packages were two of my four books on FREEZER COOKING that I'd ordered this weekend!

I'm also expecting a huge shipment from Macy's. Since I didn't get to go to Canton b/c of health issues and the freezing temperatures, I chose to shop online. I bought some new bath rugs and decorative towels that were on sale at Macy's. I also splurged and bought a bread maker AND a new convection/toaster/rotisserie oven. I can't WAIT to try that out. I hate having to cook the meal and then have to wait for the rolls b/c I have no way to cook rolls that generally have to cook at a higher temperature than whatever I'm serving for the evening. It's a pain in the butt! So, I'm hoping this is just an amazing tool for me! That would have been a great box to have on the porch too!

Anyway, just another day in the life. I need to get busy taking some pictures and actually getting some formal pictures of my boys. I've been such a horrible slacker and now that I have new batteries I have NO EXCUSE not to take more photos!

I think my next venture is having my son build me a PVC photo backdrop holder! :) We'll see... I'll find that link and post it. It looks like an amazing toy/tool to have.

Toodles and goodnight everyone!