so as we were walking home from primary, MayMay was proudly showing me her "dough." I said, "oh, that's so nice! Playdough!" And she said, "No mom, it's not playdough. It's dough!"
We got in the door and about 15 minutes into making lunch MayMay announced that she was supposed to make a pizza with the dough. So I changed my assumptions... Sister Black must have given them some dough to make something at home. What a great idea! OK, fine. Go ahead and make a pizza.
I preheated the oven and the kids had a grand old time rolling out the "dough" on a baking sheet. I gave MayMay sauce to spread, and cheese, and put it in the oven to bake. 10 minutes later I took it out, got the "pizza" off the pan, and put it on MayMay's plate, instructing her to share a little bit with her sisters.
I tasted a little glob of crust which had stuck to the pan.
I'm sure you know the rest.... :)
Skywalker and I were laughing so hard. I laughed so hard I cried. Anyway... thank you for the playdough! I should have tasted it before we even started.
Aug 21, 2010
The Hilarious Mr. Putz
If you haven't had a chance to go check out his blog, this is a good post to start with.
Mr. Putz SAYS he is a retired man in his sixties who is suffering from dementia but I know better... nobody with dementia could write with that level of hilarious, rambling genius.
Mr. Putz SAYS he is a retired man in his sixties who is suffering from dementia but I know better... nobody with dementia could write with that level of hilarious, rambling genius.
Barack Obama's Religion
I just listened to an npr podcast and after listening to it, I'm just curious. So I thought I'd try a little experiment.
What religion is our president?
You don't have to participate. But I'm curious as to what kinds of answers this question would receive amongst my friends and family.
What religion is our president?
You don't have to participate. But I'm curious as to what kinds of answers this question would receive amongst my friends and family.
Aug 19, 2010
New Goals For a New Year
I turned 30 two days ago.
I love 30.
Before we left on vacation, Skywalker and I had kind of a strange experience. We were feeling all these promptings to apply for a job in Idaho. We did, and got to the last stage of the interview. I was going crazy planning for a possible move.
They ended up choosing someone else.
our reactions: relief, confusion, and a re-set of "where are we" conversations.
Skywalker has a good job. He likes it. I wouldn't say loves it, but likes it and that's pretty good especially with the economy and job market being what it is right now. But I always think of him as someone who's got some kind of Mission. He's brilliant, compassionate, and wildly creative. He's one of those people you just know are meant for something special. Maybe that something special is to be in support for the rest of his life, because those qualities I listed before make him very good at support. But he's got an inventor's heart... he wants to do something innovative, something he believes in, something that can leave his day free eventually to do what he really loves: teach, and write.
This job would have incorporated some of that, but in essence it was still a support job. We've landed, in all of this, on a possible conclusion: we've got to get going on starting a business. That's why Skywalker took the job he has now in the first place--it's only a 40 hour a week job and still incorporates a lot of his talents and finds a use for the master's degree he has. The 40 hour a week job means he's got time to start a business on the side (yes, we're talking being SWAMPED with work. But it's what he's wanted for a long time.) So we've decided to have a weekly date night/brainstorming session together. We have friends over fridays, so we're planning a short night out Saturdays, so we can go somewhere quiet and brainstorm together. And maybe get something going.
The second set of goals is related to health. I realized when I was at home, and had access to a scale (I don't have one here, for lots of rebellious reasons) that I weigh more now than I ever thought I would weigh without pregnancy as a factor. It startled me a little. And while I like my body (it's nice and curvy and feminine... sorry if I just grossed some of you out), I don't want to make this a trend or habit, and my body actually likes me a little better when I range from 120-135 or so. Right now I'm hovering around 150. So... I never thought I'd say this, but we're on a diet for a while. I haven't done anything this pregnancy different from the others, so I know it's likely my metabolism doing the dreaded 'slow down at 30-ish' routine. Skywalker has needed this for a while, too, though I've had a hard time admitting it. I hate the idea of dieting. Literally hate it. It goes against a lot of what I know and believe... but really, at this point it seems the most inevitable option.
I plan on exercizing, too, though. my mother had the book, "you are your own gym" at her house and Skywalker read quite a bit of it and was inspired. The exercises described in it are a lot like the ones I did on the ski-team in high school for "interval training." So I plan on doing these a few times a week to build muscle and bone health. I also plan on running daily. In order to have the time for this, we will need to buy a treadmill. I've thought and thought, brainstormed and brainstormed, and there really is no other option, if I want to run. And there won't be, until I'm 36 or so... my health can't wait 6 years.
I've made a covenant with myself that if I don't fudge on the diet or exercize I can take myself out to dinner once a month, wherever I want, and eat whatever I want.
So... this post is mostly reflective, but also for accountability. My cousin Adele has inspired me, as I've watched her meet her goals... here I am following in her footsteps. Thanks for being an inspiration, Adele.
I love 30.
Before we left on vacation, Skywalker and I had kind of a strange experience. We were feeling all these promptings to apply for a job in Idaho. We did, and got to the last stage of the interview. I was going crazy planning for a possible move.
They ended up choosing someone else.
our reactions: relief, confusion, and a re-set of "where are we" conversations.
Skywalker has a good job. He likes it. I wouldn't say loves it, but likes it and that's pretty good especially with the economy and job market being what it is right now. But I always think of him as someone who's got some kind of Mission. He's brilliant, compassionate, and wildly creative. He's one of those people you just know are meant for something special. Maybe that something special is to be in support for the rest of his life, because those qualities I listed before make him very good at support. But he's got an inventor's heart... he wants to do something innovative, something he believes in, something that can leave his day free eventually to do what he really loves: teach, and write.
This job would have incorporated some of that, but in essence it was still a support job. We've landed, in all of this, on a possible conclusion: we've got to get going on starting a business. That's why Skywalker took the job he has now in the first place--it's only a 40 hour a week job and still incorporates a lot of his talents and finds a use for the master's degree he has. The 40 hour a week job means he's got time to start a business on the side (yes, we're talking being SWAMPED with work. But it's what he's wanted for a long time.) So we've decided to have a weekly date night/brainstorming session together. We have friends over fridays, so we're planning a short night out Saturdays, so we can go somewhere quiet and brainstorm together. And maybe get something going.
The second set of goals is related to health. I realized when I was at home, and had access to a scale (I don't have one here, for lots of rebellious reasons) that I weigh more now than I ever thought I would weigh without pregnancy as a factor. It startled me a little. And while I like my body (it's nice and curvy and feminine... sorry if I just grossed some of you out), I don't want to make this a trend or habit, and my body actually likes me a little better when I range from 120-135 or so. Right now I'm hovering around 150. So... I never thought I'd say this, but we're on a diet for a while. I haven't done anything this pregnancy different from the others, so I know it's likely my metabolism doing the dreaded 'slow down at 30-ish' routine. Skywalker has needed this for a while, too, though I've had a hard time admitting it. I hate the idea of dieting. Literally hate it. It goes against a lot of what I know and believe... but really, at this point it seems the most inevitable option.
I plan on exercizing, too, though. my mother had the book, "you are your own gym" at her house and Skywalker read quite a bit of it and was inspired. The exercises described in it are a lot like the ones I did on the ski-team in high school for "interval training." So I plan on doing these a few times a week to build muscle and bone health. I also plan on running daily. In order to have the time for this, we will need to buy a treadmill. I've thought and thought, brainstormed and brainstormed, and there really is no other option, if I want to run. And there won't be, until I'm 36 or so... my health can't wait 6 years.
I've made a covenant with myself that if I don't fudge on the diet or exercize I can take myself out to dinner once a month, wherever I want, and eat whatever I want.
So... this post is mostly reflective, but also for accountability. My cousin Adele has inspired me, as I've watched her meet her goals... here I am following in her footsteps. Thanks for being an inspiration, Adele.
Aug 16, 2010
Things We Say
(Setting: Grandma Patricia, NSG and recently RM'd little brother John are in the middle of a conversation about (among many other things) Harrison Ford and how young he still looks.)
Grandma Patricia: I saw that last one.
NSG: Which One?
Grandma Patricia: You know, the one where they end up in Petra, and they have all that with the swinging knives that shoot out and cut off your head? And by the way, I've been to Petra, in fact all of us went through there, and I can tell you they don't really have any swinging knives because all of us still have our heads.
(setting: Jaws is sitting at the piano with a disney storybook propped open on the music stand. MayMay is standing in the middle of the room, seriously contemplating a little plastic photo album with random pieces of scribbled-on paper stuck in the plastic pages.)
Jaws: (turning to glance over her shoulder) We're doing Belle, MayMay. (Proceeds to delicately press random keys with both hands.)
MayMay: OK. Belle. Hmmm. (flips through her pages, glancing at one every now and then.) Here we go. Belle. (Begins singing to Jaw's accompaniment) Belle is so very pretty! She is here. She-- (Turns to see NSG grinning, jumps and covers mouth) Mom!
NSG: (quickly smothers grin.) That's pretty, girls.
Jaws: (Glances sternly over shoulder at NSG) Mom! This is a Belle song that nobody should ever hear. OK?
Grandma Patricia: I saw that last one.
NSG: Which One?
Grandma Patricia: You know, the one where they end up in Petra, and they have all that with the swinging knives that shoot out and cut off your head? And by the way, I've been to Petra, in fact all of us went through there, and I can tell you they don't really have any swinging knives because all of us still have our heads.
(setting: Jaws is sitting at the piano with a disney storybook propped open on the music stand. MayMay is standing in the middle of the room, seriously contemplating a little plastic photo album with random pieces of scribbled-on paper stuck in the plastic pages.)
Jaws: (turning to glance over her shoulder) We're doing Belle, MayMay. (Proceeds to delicately press random keys with both hands.)
MayMay: OK. Belle. Hmmm. (flips through her pages, glancing at one every now and then.) Here we go. Belle. (Begins singing to Jaw's accompaniment) Belle is so very pretty! She is here. She-- (Turns to see NSG grinning, jumps and covers mouth) Mom!
NSG: (quickly smothers grin.) That's pretty, girls.
Jaws: (Glances sternly over shoulder at NSG) Mom! This is a Belle song that nobody should ever hear. OK?
Aug 1, 2010
Jobs
Loli: Mom, do you think I can do a job to earn money?
NSG: (looks warily at Loli) Like what?
Loli: Like... clean the mirror?
NSG: that's too little.
Loli: (large blue-eyed dissappointment)
NSG: If you took everything off the counter and cleaned the counter, and the mirror, and put everything back nicely then I'd give you a quarter.
Loli: (Considers for a moment. Nods. Runs off).
(clamoring chidlren, all running toward NSG)
Bella: Mom! I want to Mop and Sweep!
Jaws: Mom, I want to clean the potty!
MayMay: (frowns) Mom, how much Loli gets?
NSG: A quarter. Bella, the floor's clean. But you can clean the toys outside and on the porch and put them away where they go, I will give you a quarter. Jaws, cleaning the potty is a mommy job, not a kid job.
Bella: Mom, I want a job that's inside because it's too hot outside.
NSG: Ok, well you can clean the nap room all by yourself. You have to put all the clothes in the drawers and the drawers have to be closed, even Squirt's.
Bella: OK.
MayMay: Mom, how much she gets?
NSG: A quarter.
Jaws: I want to play princesses.
Squirt: (squeezes Rose's fist until she makes a protest-like noise, gives NSG a mischevious look.)
Jaws: Squirt, go sit on the time out bench.
Squirt: NO!
MayMay: If I clean everything outside can I get two quarters?
NSG: No. Outside's not messy enough for two quarters.
MayMay: If I do all the sticks?
NSG: There aren't any sticks.
MayMay: (Gives NSG a dark look from under her eyebrows)
NSG: Squirt, go sit on the time out bench or I'll spank your little bum. Now. One, Two, Three--
Squirt: OK! (runs to the stairs, stands on them and repeatedly slams the door.)
NSG: Squirt, Go!
Squirt: OK! (pattering of little feet up the stairs.)
Jaws: (screeches) MOmmy, squirt's not on the time-out bench!
NSG: Go, Squirt!
Jaws: He's still not!
NSG: Squirt--
Jaws: He is now, mom.
NSG: (looks warily at Loli) Like what?
Loli: Like... clean the mirror?
NSG: that's too little.
Loli: (large blue-eyed dissappointment)
NSG: If you took everything off the counter and cleaned the counter, and the mirror, and put everything back nicely then I'd give you a quarter.
Loli: (Considers for a moment. Nods. Runs off).
(clamoring chidlren, all running toward NSG)
Bella: Mom! I want to Mop and Sweep!
Jaws: Mom, I want to clean the potty!
MayMay: (frowns) Mom, how much Loli gets?
NSG: A quarter. Bella, the floor's clean. But you can clean the toys outside and on the porch and put them away where they go, I will give you a quarter. Jaws, cleaning the potty is a mommy job, not a kid job.
Bella: Mom, I want a job that's inside because it's too hot outside.
NSG: Ok, well you can clean the nap room all by yourself. You have to put all the clothes in the drawers and the drawers have to be closed, even Squirt's.
Bella: OK.
MayMay: Mom, how much she gets?
NSG: A quarter.
Jaws: I want to play princesses.
Squirt: (squeezes Rose's fist until she makes a protest-like noise, gives NSG a mischevious look.)
Jaws: Squirt, go sit on the time out bench.
Squirt: NO!
MayMay: If I clean everything outside can I get two quarters?
NSG: No. Outside's not messy enough for two quarters.
MayMay: If I do all the sticks?
NSG: There aren't any sticks.
MayMay: (Gives NSG a dark look from under her eyebrows)
NSG: Squirt, go sit on the time out bench or I'll spank your little bum. Now. One, Two, Three--
Squirt: OK! (runs to the stairs, stands on them and repeatedly slams the door.)
NSG: Squirt, Go!
Squirt: OK! (pattering of little feet up the stairs.)
Jaws: (screeches) MOmmy, squirt's not on the time-out bench!
NSG: Go, Squirt!
Jaws: He's still not!
NSG: Squirt--
Jaws: He is now, mom.
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