Half full? Or half hairy?

So. Peeps. I was in the shower this morning and thought to myself, "Self, you actually got up early enough to shave those legs and since it's been a day or two (or 4-zip it--it's winter here!) you should do that." So, I squirted the shave gel on one leg, shaved it and then realized that I was entirely. Out. Of. Shave. Gel. None hiding in the closet. None in the travel bag. Even MD's wasn't available because he has started to shave in the other bathroom because I complain it takes him too long and I need to get in the shower and now I'm going to be late. (Yeah right, like it's his fault I'm running late.)

But back to my troubles. Essentially I'm walking around with one stubbly leg and one smooth leg now. And I have to tell you, it's a bit unsettling.

But it made me think of the old saying about the glass being half full or half empty. I think I'm going to try to change that saying to. The new check to see if you're an optimist or a pessimist is: "Are you one leg shaved or one leg hairy?" Oh, yeah, that's got a super catchy ring to it! I'm sure it's going to be sweeping the nation any day now. And you can point to this blog and know where it all started.

Slow cooking update...

I made the Salsa Chicken with Black Beans soup. I should have used canned beans or cooked it on high the entire time because my dried beans didn't get quite soft enough in time for dinner. (Dudes, we've got some seriously hard water here in P-town and it's impacting my beans!) Even with slightly crunchy beans it was delicious. The very best part was the fact that I used uncooked and completely frozen chicken breasts--take that lack of meal planning! The second best part was me trying to convince P that the "green stuff" in the soup *might* be celery, despite the name of the soup being "Salsa Chicken". Hee hee.

Another friend I showed the site to made the Pot Roast with Cranberry Sauce last night. Her report back was "incredibly easy and delicious." I'm looking for other suggestions of winners if anyone tries anything else!

Cooking

Is it just me or does cumin smell like a construction worker's sweaty armpit? I'm trying a new recipe today, from a blog I've recently become obsessed with (it's actually a blog from two years ago--yet again proving my T-Rex like prowess when it comes to this thing we call the internets). I'm sure that the cumin will add that "certain something" to it but it totally grossed me out when I sprinkled it in.

I'll be sure to let you all know how it tastes. And the blog, it's here: crockpot365.blogspot.com. The author took on the challenge to make something in her crockpot every day for a year. Every day, man. Every day. And many of her recipes have been put into a book called "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow." Perhaps all of my 3.5 readers will find something in her recipes that tickles your fancy as well. Enjoy!

Winter musings

I love winter. I really do. I love the sweaters and vests you can wear to hide an extra Christmas cookie (or twelve). I love the way the house seems like there's a giant muffler on it when the snow comes down, quieting all of the outside noises. I love the look of the flakes falling. I love the idea of going sledding. I love to bundle up with a good book and stay at home, out of the cold. I love the possibility of a snow day. But, if we're really being honest here, I only love it for a brief period of time. Like 20 minutes or so. Then I'm pretty much done with it. It was snowy over break, but it's melted now and I couldn't be happier.

However the snow got me thinking. I was trying to decide: is snowy weather the bane of every mother's morning or is summer weather? Winter with the snow pants and the boots and the hats and the gloves (which are always getting lost) and the potential to lose a finger or toe if you stay out too long. Or summer, with the packing of lunches that can stay cool for hours while at camp and the applying of sunscreen, and the bags packed with a swimsuit and a towel and swim goggles and another bag inside your bag to keep your stuff dry on swim days (don't forget if you have a kid with slightly long hair you'll also need some conditioner and maybe a pick or brush). Plus the potential to have your kid get skin cancer years and years from now, and know that it was (maybe) because you got a little lazy with the sunscreen one day. I'm exhausted just writing out the lists! Is it just me? Is it because I work outside the home? Is it because I still have fairly young kids? Is it because I would rather sleep-in for an extra five (OK, 35) minutes rather than do anything else? I'm not sure, but I'm thinking I am really starting to love fall. And spring. Spring is nice too.

I wonder...

I wonder if one of my New Year's resolutions to think about this blog more will happen.

I wonder if thinking and then actually writing on my blog will occur.

I wonder if our computer is fixed. (You see, this time I have had an actual, legitimate excuse for not writing!)

I wonder if you knew that 6 years and one day ago (see above for the reason I didn't write this yesterday) I was in labor. It was not an enjoyable experience. As I thought back about it yesterday, I remembered the sweating, the crying, the machine pumping out the epidural medication breaking. Twice. I also remembered the large number of things hooked and taped to various parts of my body.

Side note, oh medical tape--I wonder why hasn't someone invented medical tape that works like a post- it. Stays on when you need it, comes of nicely when you don't, rather than ripping all of your hair off your body. I came for a baby, not a wax!

Anyway, I also wonder if my hands shoving as hard as they could on my stomach in a desperate attempt to push G out from the outside as well as the inside actually helped. Or, was I just trying to force her to follow my timeline? Making her do something this instant when if I had given her another moment or two she would have done it on her own? You all know where this is going. I have a stuborn child. She was (and is) worth every second of pain. I'm finding, however, that if I am calm, she is calm. When I push, she pushes back. So this year my other New Year's Resolution is to chose patience. Patience instead of hustling. Patience instead of yelling. Patience instead of talking through clenched teeth. Patience. I wonder if it will work.

What's in there??

So. Many things happened over Thanksgiving, some that were lots of fun, some that do not belong out here in the internets, some that make me sad so I cover them up with sarcasm and some pretty random. But I feel I must tell you about a little adventure we had just before Thanksgiving. Since we were hosting and housing several folks we wanted to make sure the house was tidy-rific for all our guests. Now I love my house and I want it to always be tidy. However, the sloth in me usually wins when tidy and resting are competing for my attention. But it was time for turning over a new leaf (i.e. COMPANY IS COMING IT'S TIME TO PANIC!!). Our old vacuum had gone to farm where it could run and chase rabbits and be happy(not really, but you know what I mean) so I headed out to our local big box store for a new one. As I reviewed my options I decided I didn't want to deal with any more vacuum bags since we have what seems like hundreds of them floating around in our garage so I bought a bagless vacuum. With a clear cover on the little thing that collects everything your vacuum sucks up. Um. Hello. Did I mention sloth? Also, my little town is super dusty. Also, we live across the street from a field, made up primarily of garbanzo beans, wheat and dust. Clearly this was a mistake.

Now, I may be dating myself and some of my fair readers here, but does anyone remember Biore strips?? They were those little band aid sized strips you would moisten, put on your nose and then peel off once they dried. The purpose of the Biore strip was to clear your pores and remove blackheads, but really, who are we kidding? The biggest part of the Biore strip adventure was doing it with friends and then grossing each other out by looking at everyone's nasty, blackheady results. Let's just say my bagless vacuum experience was like a giant Biore strip. Ack! Oh the humanity! I actually sat on that carpet! My children on occasion slept on that carpet! And wow-there was a lot to see in that clear section! I had to clean the suction part three times! It was too much! Yet oddly satisfying. In a creepy sense. I know. I need help. I'm also just ever-so-slightly tempted to wait (and wait and wait) before vacuuming again so I can have the same satisfying experience. At least that's the excuse my sloth side is going with at the moment.

Gobble gobble

Hello hello! I wonder when I will be able to post without feeling the need to greet you (all 3.2 readers of mine). Clearly, it's not today--so hello!

Just hanging out at home, waiting for P to finish his homework, listening to Christmas carols and trying to decide what to make with the leftovers from any of the 4 (!) turkeys we've cooked and frozen in 2 cup servings over the last month. OK, so the first one was because I'm retentive and had to practice cooking a turkey before we hosted Thanksgiving. And the second one was because I didn't really like the first recipe after all. The third was for the real Thanksgiving and the fourth was because, well, turkeys were on sale and I can't resist a sale. Oh how I do love a bargain! And turkeys are cheap this time of year!

Although, I just did some rough math in my head (which is tricky for me, just ask the 15 people who came to my house for Thanksgiving and found only 13 chairs. Whoops! Even with all 15 people in front of me I kept coming up with only 13. But enough about that...) Anywho, I did some rough math and even if the turkey was $.26/lb I'm not totally sure it was a bargain by the time I add in the price of the brine (salt, honey and vegetable broth) and/or the cost of the fresh rosemary and sage that was put in the turkey and/or the price of the gas to run the oven for 3 1/2 hours. Almost forgot to add the cost of the heat when I had to open all the windows and doors (letting the toasty 36 degree F wind blow through the house) to clear the smoke out during the first 30 minutes of searing the skin. I think since those heating costs get put in a different category in my budget we'll just leave that out... Sort of reminds me when MD suggested we could save a ton of money on our grocery bill if we just ate out more. Ha!

Off to check on the homework--have a great day everyone!