Since April, a lot has happened. I was pregnant, had a baby, quit my job and have been trying to figure out my way ever since. I agonized over staying home and, at first, it wasn't easy, but now I'm glad I am doing this. The lack of paycheck kinda sucks and the temptation to fall into the pit of my own world is strong at times, but I keep trucking.
One thing that I learned, again, is that it's hard to make friends as an adult. I've been delving into the crazy world of mommy groups. I've met some nice people, but it takes time and isn't easy to connect when the kids are trying to rip toys out of each-others hands. Ah, motherhood. One thing that is great about the mommy groups is that when your child is being a cave-person, they aren't looking at you like you've lost all control. Most of the time the moms all understand and are really nice about the tantrum your child is throwing. Then, the storm passes and it's on to the next child's tantrum.
I wish I knew how other moms kept up with their house cleaning. I feel like the house is a constant dirt pit with clutter everywhere. I'm dreading Christmas because it just means more crap to add to the crap that's already there! It was a challenge getting the house clean with one kid, it feels impossible with 2! One friend told me that I should invite people over more often, that way I will be forced to clean, but I truly prefer to sleep instead. I can't help it, that's the truth.
Well, that's what's on my mind today. Not sure if anyone will see this since I haven't written in a LONG time, but it's out in the Inter-Web now and maybe someone will be kind enough to judge me.
TTFN.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Last Night's Dinner Preparations
I got home later than usual last night, so my wonderful husband picked up our son from daycare and fed him dinner and then proceeded to make us a marvelous frozen pizza for him and I to eat. I was VERY grateful!
As we continued on with our normal week night routine of cleaning up, playing and bedtime, I realized I was just too tired to do anything else and resolved to sit on the couch and watch DWTS. This plan would've worked if it weren't for my husband deciding to be productive and get some chores done while I lazed on the couch. Sitting there, watching Tom Bergeron extoll about the rigors and trials of celebrity dancing, trying to ignore the food needing to be prepared in the fridge and the basket of laundry waiting to be folded, I caved. Well, I put up a fight first, I tried to flip through the new Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine that arrived that day, but they changed the format and it wasn't just a leisurely flip-though! It urked me so much. Now, I caved.
I got up and opened the fridge. There were a few ideas swimming in my mind, but the most pressing was the realization that I will not have time tomorrow (today) to make a full meal. I had all the fixins for a stir fry and a hearty chicken soup. I opted for the stir fry just because it is faster!
Here's the recipe, I hope you guys like it.
As we continued on with our normal week night routine of cleaning up, playing and bedtime, I realized I was just too tired to do anything else and resolved to sit on the couch and watch DWTS. This plan would've worked if it weren't for my husband deciding to be productive and get some chores done while I lazed on the couch. Sitting there, watching Tom Bergeron extoll about the rigors and trials of celebrity dancing, trying to ignore the food needing to be prepared in the fridge and the basket of laundry waiting to be folded, I caved. Well, I put up a fight first, I tried to flip through the new Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine that arrived that day, but they changed the format and it wasn't just a leisurely flip-though! It urked me so much. Now, I caved.
I got up and opened the fridge. There were a few ideas swimming in my mind, but the most pressing was the realization that I will not have time tomorrow (today) to make a full meal. I had all the fixins for a stir fry and a hearty chicken soup. I opted for the stir fry just because it is faster!
Here's the recipe, I hope you guys like it.
Easy Pork Stir-Fry
1 lb boneless center cut pork chops sliced thin length-wise
1 yellow pepper sliced thin
1 medium yellow onion sliced thin
1 – 8 oz. pkg. sliced white mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus trimmed then cut in half
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 Tbsp. grated ginger (I buy a tube and squirt it into the pot)
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. Five Spice powder
¼ c. soy sauce
Heat wok or large pan with 2 Tbs. oil, add pork and Five spice powder, ½ the soy sauce – stir often. Let brown on both sides, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from pan, set aside and cover. Add last 2 Tbs. of oil to pan/wok, heat a minute, then add onions and peppers. Let cook til slightly soft, stirring often on high heat. Return pork to pan. Next, add asparagus, rest of the soy sauce, and ginger. Cook til the asparagus is bright green, stirring often. Now, add mushrooms, cook til slightly soft, stirring often. Turn off heat, add scallions and stir. Serves 4.
This can go over a bed of spinach or brown rice. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Rotini with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce
One of the things I love to do is cook. I don't get a lot of time to do it, so I try to find really quick things to feed the family that are wholesome. I wanted to share this recipe because it came out so great! If you try it, let me know what you think. Sorry there's no pics, but I'm new at this.
Ingredients:
1 box of Rotini (I use Whole Wheat Barilla, but you can use any brand and shape you want)
1 - 8 oz. pkg. of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
1/4 of an onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp butter
1 c. white wine (something cheap, since you're cooking with it and not drinking it! Or you could use chicken broth)
2/3 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c. parm. cheese
Directions:
Cook pasta according to box directions, drain.
While pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium size frying pan on medium heat. Once melted, sautee the diced onion for 2 mins. til soft but not brown. Next, put in the sliced mushrooms and cook for a minute, stirring it around a couple of times. Set heat to low and cover the mushrooms for 3 or 4 mins. until they become soft. Once soft, uncover and add salt, pepper and thyme, stir together. Once combined, add in the wine and reduce to about half. Next add the heavy cream stirring everything together thoroughly. Now, raise the heat to medium-high. Bring sauce up to a simmer and let it simmer til the sauce thickens about 5 - 8 mins.
Once the pasta is ready, pour sauce with mushrooms over it and then add the cheese. Stir thoroughly. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 box of Rotini (I use Whole Wheat Barilla, but you can use any brand and shape you want)
1 - 8 oz. pkg. of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
1/4 of an onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp butter
1 c. white wine (something cheap, since you're cooking with it and not drinking it! Or you could use chicken broth)
2/3 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 c. parm. cheese
Directions:
Cook pasta according to box directions, drain.
While pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium size frying pan on medium heat. Once melted, sautee the diced onion for 2 mins. til soft but not brown. Next, put in the sliced mushrooms and cook for a minute, stirring it around a couple of times. Set heat to low and cover the mushrooms for 3 or 4 mins. until they become soft. Once soft, uncover and add salt, pepper and thyme, stir together. Once combined, add in the wine and reduce to about half. Next add the heavy cream stirring everything together thoroughly. Now, raise the heat to medium-high. Bring sauce up to a simmer and let it simmer til the sauce thickens about 5 - 8 mins.
Once the pasta is ready, pour sauce with mushrooms over it and then add the cheese. Stir thoroughly. Enjoy!
Places I am dreaming about...
The weather just doesn't want to let go of winter...It looks nice, but it's cold and tiresome. I wish I were here...
Or here...
It would be fun to take my kid out to play! This would be a fun place...
Can you spot the theme here? :)
Or here...
It would be fun to take my kid out to play! This would be a fun place...
Can you spot the theme here? :)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Embrace Your Crazy, Chaotic Life
That's the name of this article from CNN.com, I liked it so much I want to share...
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/21/o.embrace.crazy.chaotic.life/index.html?hpt=Sbin
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/21/o.embrace.crazy.chaotic.life/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Devil
I’ve often heard that the devil isn’t out in the open. It isn’t obviously and conspicuously wearing a red suit with a pitchfork as an accessory. The devil’s sly and cunning, preying on our inner-most fears and insecurities. The devil needles its way into our personal thoughts creating shadows and doubt in things we normally look at with confidence. It disguises itself as well-meaning advice that we feel we can never live up to and turns our attention from finding viable solutions to beating ourselves up over how terrible we must be because we can’t follow that great advice. It always makes perfect sense and never loses it’s cool. It just waits for the perfect moment to drop the bomb in the most understated way, so as not to cause any serious alarm, just enough to make you feel completely uneasy. You are left with the nagging sensation that you aren’t doing enough or that the decision you made wasn’t right or the feeling of wanting to run and hide because you aren’t sure of anything anymore.
This devil has a name, it’s called Guilt. It’s VERY happy to make your acquaintance. Guilt starts small; I should really clean out the sink before bed…I shouldn’t have let the kids eat all those cookie.
Then it grows; I should have more patience and be able to stop my baby from crying for hours…If I loved them more, the kids would be happier.
Then it gets out of control; If I plan everything, nothing will ever go wrong…I’m a terrible mother for wanting an afternoon to myself…I’m a terrible mother because I wish I could leave the house whenever I hear my baby cry…
We all know Guilt. This devil could be the mom you are comparing yourself to at a mommy group or your mother/mother-in-law making you second guess yourself or all those experts telling us we are doing it wrong. Sometimes it isn’t anyone or anything giving us guilt but ourselves. We expect more of ourselves based on some idea we came up with in the past. We are trying to live up to some ideal and feel we are falling short. The thing is we can change our minds.
POOF! ALACAZAM!! PRESTO!!!
Change your mind.
The only person keeping score is you. I’m too busy keeping my own score and I’m a terrible conductor, the whole orchestra is out of tune!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Disco Lemonade
When I remember Marcy Playground's song 'Sex and Candy' it reminds me of how cool I thought it was to go to fraternity parties in college, as long as you don't look too closely at the Disco Lemonade! I miss alcohol. It will be so nice to have a glass of wine after the baby's born.
I have been pretty busy the past week and half. I really wanted to put up a new post last Friday and then the night got away from me; not because I felt that people were clamouring to read it, especially after the reaction I got from the last one, but because I just like doing this.
I started parking in the maternity spot at work. I kept getting lectures from people saying that I could slip and fall in the parking lot and I should get the pass that allows me to park there (mind you, I could slip and fall in the building, but whatever). What I found out shortly thereafter was that there's a dozen pregnant women at my job right now all competing for the 2 maternity spots! I work in a pretty large building, lots of people come and go, you can't expect that 2 maternity spots would be sufficient. I look at them as a nice gesture, but really, I could use the exercise because I don't need to get to work any earlier just to get one of those spots.
It's starting to get uncomfortable to sit all day at a desk and since it wouldn't look good for me to go roaming around the building all the time, I decided to try working standing up and set up a make-shift platform to raise my laptop off the desk. It worked ok, til I realized that I then needed something for my mouse. I just can't work on the tiny mouse pad on laptops. I'm in the process of stacking all the books in my cube to get to the proper height for my arm. Needless to say, it looks pretty ghetto, which is probably why the dept. assistant sent over someone from facilities to look at my desk and scrutinize what I was doing. I guess I will find out soon enough if there's an issue with my set up. There are lots of companies that have work stations designed to adjust higher or lower so you don't have to sit all day. I wish I worked at those places! I saw someone sitting on one of those exercise-ball chairs and asked where she ordered it from. I was told that the company doesn't provide that sort of thing and that she bought it on her own. That's fine I guess, but if my company is trying to promote health and wellness (which it is) you would think it would be more open to something like that. But, promoting the topic costs them nothing and saves them millions in health benefits. Do you ever feel like you went into the wrong line of work?
I have been pretty busy the past week and half. I really wanted to put up a new post last Friday and then the night got away from me; not because I felt that people were clamouring to read it, especially after the reaction I got from the last one, but because I just like doing this.
I started parking in the maternity spot at work. I kept getting lectures from people saying that I could slip and fall in the parking lot and I should get the pass that allows me to park there (mind you, I could slip and fall in the building, but whatever). What I found out shortly thereafter was that there's a dozen pregnant women at my job right now all competing for the 2 maternity spots! I work in a pretty large building, lots of people come and go, you can't expect that 2 maternity spots would be sufficient. I look at them as a nice gesture, but really, I could use the exercise because I don't need to get to work any earlier just to get one of those spots.
It's starting to get uncomfortable to sit all day at a desk and since it wouldn't look good for me to go roaming around the building all the time, I decided to try working standing up and set up a make-shift platform to raise my laptop off the desk. It worked ok, til I realized that I then needed something for my mouse. I just can't work on the tiny mouse pad on laptops. I'm in the process of stacking all the books in my cube to get to the proper height for my arm. Needless to say, it looks pretty ghetto, which is probably why the dept. assistant sent over someone from facilities to look at my desk and scrutinize what I was doing. I guess I will find out soon enough if there's an issue with my set up. There are lots of companies that have work stations designed to adjust higher or lower so you don't have to sit all day. I wish I worked at those places! I saw someone sitting on one of those exercise-ball chairs and asked where she ordered it from. I was told that the company doesn't provide that sort of thing and that she bought it on her own. That's fine I guess, but if my company is trying to promote health and wellness (which it is) you would think it would be more open to something like that. But, promoting the topic costs them nothing and saves them millions in health benefits. Do you ever feel like you went into the wrong line of work?
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