School's Out For Summer!!!

Today I was dabbling on facebook and ran across the link that will show you friend suggestions for all of the people you went to high school with. (Go KHS!) Me, being the big dork, clicks on the link. And then I realize that I can't even remember 95% of the people that I graduated with. I was just that cool. You know, in the band and swim team.

I do remember one rather important person from high school though - my hubby!

I was honestly shocked about how few people I could remember. We had a close knit group of friends that we still stay in touch with, for the most part. That part is because I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people, even when I try really, really hard. That's a post for another day though.

Even today I'm not the best at getting to know people. I'm better at it, for sure. Mostly because I have to be for work. I can find something to talk about with most anyone - an upside to having too many hobbies! Maybe I was just really bad at making friends, or too shy as a kid, or too judgy. Who knows. Instead, I think I should take a glass is half full perspective. I mean, I have some really, really good friends out of the deal and a cute family.

So screw em! Who needs high school???

The Case of the Missing Lunches

This morning I woke up to a quiet house. In my world, that's a rarity, a luxury, and most days, not the typical scenario.

The hubby had already left for work, which didn't actually leave the house quiet while he was getting ready, but after he left, there were a couple moments of peace. He was off on his bike (yay - one more success for you environmentalists out there!).

Matthew was hanging out playing Wii, which is near our room, but we've trained him to turn the sound OFF!, not down, but OFF!.

Lily and Garrett were asleep (so cute!) together in Lily's room with both dogs.

I couldn't believe it when everyone got up, dressed and we were out of the house on time!!! It was a glorious morning so far.

Things then went downhill from there.

Case 1: I tried to walk out of daycare, with Garrett in my arms. Hello!!! He's supposed to stay there all day. The daycare provider was a bit confused. I was too, for a couple of seconds until I realized what I was doing.

Case 2: We made it (without incident, I must add) to the Corbin Art Center - more about their fantasticness later - with the big kids, and, we were early. Woot! Then, we go to get out of the car.

Me: "Kids, hop out of the car & grab your lunches."

Kids: blank stare. Translated to: We forgot our lunches.

So, the debate.

Do I drive home to get their lunches? That would mean that I would be at least an hour late to work. Nevermind the fact that I'd have to drive a good 17ish miles out of my way in each direction. Read: more gas, bad for the environment. (Yeah, we think that way, we're nerds.)

Or, do I just get them food in town and take it to them during their lunch?

I opted for the latter, because I didn't want to spend my morning in the car. So, the hubby and I got to be heroes by bringing the kids McDonald's food at their daycamp. Point for the Rents!!

Now, here's my concern with this. Will the kids decide that it would be better to "forget" their lunch so they can have restaurant food for lunch instead? Hopefully this doesn't become a trend. Although I did get a soda out of the deal. Not too shabby, I suppose.

Step Away From the Phone...

It has come to my attention in recent days that I may be officially addicted to my iPhone. Now, I don't want to concern anyone, but I am currently going through withdrawal.

My phone broke. Not like the screen broke and I can't see the whole thing, but actual broken. Like won't turn on or connect with my computer anymore. So why do I care? I do have a temporary replacement (which is a good thing, by the way).

I care because the severity of my said addiction is coming to light. I have to haul out my laptop to check google reader & facebook. Who knew this was SOOO much work? I don't have access to my bookmarks (oh, glorious bookmarks, what will I do without you??? - these cannot be restored because I didn't sync them with iTunes. Crap.). I have to actually find things to occupy my time that do not involve learning new ways to cook or hearing about other people's kids (nevermind that I've never met the majority of these people - it's real, man!). I can't get my contacts to text or call people that I don't have their numbers memorized. Mostly because I'm too lazy to sync the new fake phone with iTunes because it's not worth the effort since I'll just have to do it again in a few days.

So, I've managed to send my phone off for repairs. Hopefully they'll just send me a new one and I'll have it by the weekend (or Friday, my birthday!!!Yay!). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I've managed to fold 8 loads of laundry, clean our living room and kitchen and make a batch of cupcakes (complete with frosting!). And, I do have some actual, interesting posts to put up. And it may actually happen since I can't spend every waking minute on my phone.

Here's to a productive week, but seriously, a girl needs some down time too!!!

The First Sewing Project...

Our daughter Lily decided today that she wanted to sew. Not just a beanbag, or something small, but an outfit for her doll. She has an American Girl doll that she desperately wants to sew clothing for, but I haven't had a chance to get to the fabric store to purchase a pattern. So today we embarked on a real sewing project. A jacket. For her.

She was really excited, until I started copying the pattern onto pattern paper. She kept asking why we had to do that part. I explained to her that the pattern went up to size 14, so we could reuse the pattern. While this kept her entertained for a while, she was interested until we turned on the lastest episode of Phineas and Ferb that she hadn't seen.

So now, she's sitting on the couch watching TV while the fabric is in the washer. Good thing I forgot to wash it!

I'll be sure to include future posts of her progress. :)

Half Marathon Sort Of Update

So, a while ago I posted that I was training for a half marathon. Well, while that's still technically true, it's not actually happening so much in real life. So, I'm posting again for motivation (and to stop talking about it in real life. I know, it's completely self-serving. I'm sure it won't be a problem for the one person that reads this blog.

The reason for the training delay, besides lack of time, is mostly due to the fact that at the beginning of October, I was having breathing issues. I thought it was a cold so I took some time off. Then I went back to running, pretty hard for two weeks. I couldn't even run 2 miles at the beginning of the two weeks, and by the end I couldn't even make it a mile. So I took another 2 weeks off (lucky timing). Then, I tried running again one afternoon and couldn't get 4 blocks down the road before I was gasping for air and seeing shooting stars, so I decided it was time to call a doctor.

Finally I went to the esteemed doctor and he said that I have exercise induced asthma. Yay! The relief is that I have medicine and can take it to run again. The bad news is that I've had a cold since November 19th and I can hardly walk up a flight of stairs without having a coughing fit. Argh! So, since I'm finally feeling well enough to type a post, I hope I'm better soon enough to start running again. Maybe Friday (although we might go skiing this weekend, who knows...).

I've decided that I'm going to take it easy through December and start up again in January with the half marathon training. I feel like I'm a bit behind, because "everyone else is doing it", but I think it will be good to take it easy for a while then hit it hard. Hopefully December will give me time to get back up to where I was before the asthma incident. We'll see, I'll keep you posted!

Dinner Win!

Last night I made the yummiest side dish for dinner. It was so yummy that all of the kids loved it! I was shocked because OMG it is actually good for you! I am going to call it Bulghur, Garbanzo and Orange Salad.

Here's the recipe(My husband :

Bulghur, Garbanzo, Orange Salad

2 cans garbanzo beans (14 oz)
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups dried bulghur
2 lemons
1 can mandarin oranges

So, you drain the garbanzo beans and put them into a pan on medium heat. Stir them around for a bit and add the cumin and red pepper. Once the garbanzo beans start to look dry, add 4 cups water. Turn the heat up to high. Once the water is boiling, add the bulghur. This will need to cook for about 15 minutes, or until the bulghur is tender, but not overdone (i.e. mushy). When the water starts to be absorbed, turn the heat down to medium. Stir this a lot!

In a separate bowl, drain the juice from the mandarin oranges and add the juice from the two lemons (if you're feeling like it, also zest the lemons, but I was too lazy). Then add salt & pepper to taste. You'll probably need quite a bit since the bulghur seems to suck up the flavor.

Once the bulghur is almost done, add the lemon juice mixture. Let it cook for a bit longer until the juice is absorbed. Pull off the heat, add the mandarin oranges and serve!

Yum!

Knitting. Yes, Really.

So internet, I know you thought I was kidding about knitting. But, I was not! See! I'm making some socks for my dad for Christmas and 1) they are actually turning out like they should and 2) they're not making me want to scratch my eyes out. Well, that's not entirely true. Since it was a new pattern and a new method of knitting socks (for me at least), I was almost driven insane by the cast on and beginning of the magic loop method. But, alas, I am (daresay) a pro now! I cruise right along knitting those things, and it's fun, not like the evil double point socks where the little dinky 6 inch toothpicks go flying every two seconds. No, the needles stay put and don't make me want to scream!

This is a picture of the socks. See, I'm really far along. Ha! This is like 5 hours of knitting. Kind of sad huh? I think I need to pick up the pace, or maybe learn to pick, instead of throw. (Knitters, you know what I mean).

I also realized today that it might really be time to clean the old house, since I could hardly find a clean place to take this picture. So, I guess that will be my weekend project.

I have a couple other projects in the works, but one is from "Santa", so I hesitate to post it here. See, I really am an elf! The other one, I cannot find my size 13 needles so I cannot actually start it.

Also, this weekend, Lily and I are going to work on her Halloween costume. She is a medieval princess. Of course, her dress is going to be bright teal and pink satin, which of course they had in the middle ages. But, it will be cute. She's going to help me so she can earn part of a patch for girl scouts. Really, I'm just going to see how much of it she will do herself so I can do nothing. Or fold laundry, which in my world is practically nothing.

So Internet, have a great night!