Menu Plan Monday - June 2

This week is going to be a yummy week for us. We're having a few favorites and trying a couple of new things. Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. Just didn't have the time!

• Monday: eat on your own
• Tuesday: Indian fried chicken, basmati rice, broccoli and cheese (we didn't get around to this last weekend because we cooked out over at a friend's house)
• Wednesday: Meatball subs and sweet potato fries
• Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs
• Friday: Cheesy rice and beans
• Saturday: Stuffed Tenderloin, potatoes, steamed carrots
• Sunday: Lamb burgers and basmati rice

If anyone wants the meatball recipe let me know. It's my mom's, and it is DELICIOUS!

I'm Getting Too Old for This

I'm twenty-six (almost 27). I know that to some of you that seems really young, but it's not. At least as far as going out drinking is concerned. I went out with some friends of mine tonight, and seriously, by 9 I was done. A little drunkity drunk drunk and tired. It didn't help that all I'd had for lunch was a deli cookie that I had to stealthily hide from Livers (lest she scream her head off wanting it). Don't get me wrong, it is really nice to get out every once in awhile and let my hair down, but I can't keep up like the youngins these days. (Did I spell that southern colloquialism correctly? Who cares.) I guess if I had more than one drink every two months it'd be different. At least I'm a cheap date. What was super nice about being out was actually getting to go to the bar to eat one of my favorite foods around: a TD's Philly Cheese steak and their sour cream and chive fries...with ranch to dip. Delish.

In more sobering news I felt very proud of myself as a mom today (before said drinking, of course. That left me feeling more guilty than awesome.) Livers was having an absolute temper tantrum today because she wanted to play with the real phone and I was using it to get a recipe from my mom. I wanted to be strong and set an example that you can't pitch a fit to get what you want, so I tried to tell her that if she'd calm down and sit then she could have the phone. Well, that just made her madder. So I told her no and put the phone away. She was mad, alright, but I stood my ground. I showed her that I was the adult and she was going to have to deal with it. She eventually got over it when I brought our dog Lacey in to sit with her (much to her frustration; she doesn't like the constant nose and eye poking). Worked like a charm. She calmed down, got to pet and poke her "E E" (as she calls her), and just sat next to her, feeling like a big special girl. I'm sure there will be times ahead where I give in to the demands, but at least I had a little victory today: Mommy 1, Livers 0.

And the self-imposed vegetarian actually tried (and liked!) hot dogs today. Is a breakthrough on the horizon???

A Week in Bullets

Howdy, y'all! (Can you guess I'm from the South?) I've been MIA for the most part the past week. No particular reason aside from a little writer's block and a general lack of anything substantial to write about. I'm sitting here in my kitchen feeling particularly productive. I washed the dishes that **surprisingly** didn't get done by J after I left for the movies last night and finally got around to folding the clothes and towels I washed LAST weekend. I might even knock out some of the other things from last weekend's to-do list. We'll see :)

Since it's not been a particularly busy week and I don't feel like devoting a lot of time to any particular thing, I'm going to do a run down of the past week in bullet form. (I am a HUGE list maker, so this is right up my alley.)

• I have, what I think, is poison ivy. On my face. It's not all that bad, but there's nothing like a red rash put right out there for the world to see to make you feel just peachy. And uber-ugly. I blame the dogs, because I'm an indoor girl who hasn't been near the stuff (since I'm highly allergic). I probably touched them or cuddled with them and got it off of their fur. That's what I get for being lovey.
• I had the world's worst pulled neck for half of the week. Probably from the ridiculous amounts of sneezing I did during an allergy attack last week. All better now.
  
• I nearly had to pay 220 freaking dollars for allergy medicine! The allergist changed my subscriptions, and the insurance company wasn't wanting to pay up. Apparently they didn't think it was necessary. The doctor took care of that one for me, because I think I'd die without them.
  
• Livy said her first 3-syllable word: telephone. She'd been saying phone for quite awhile but Thursday I said telephone when it rang and she picked up on it and started saying it, too. Awesome. :)
• I must be careful to watch what I say in front of said Livers, because she is particularly good at repeating words clearly and that could bode badly for me in the future.
• I watched Weezer's new video for their new song Pork and Beans approximately 2000 times. #1, it is awesome. It contains a lot of YouTube stars in it. You MUST go check it out. (I will try to embed it below.) And #2, Livers LOVES the song. She asks me to play it over and over again. That and the Charlie Bit My Finger video from YouTube.
• Livers learned to say "thank you" well (as in, you finally can tell what she's saying) AND in a socially appropriate way.
  
• Livers played in the sprinkler for the first time ever. She loved it.
• I watched the season finale of LOST. It has only been two days and I am absolutely JONESING for January to roll around and Season 5 to start. I think I'll do a Thursday 13 about it this week.
• I saw Sex and the City. I really liked it, even though the critics railed it. I went with a neighbor of mine who has a kid Livers age. Like me, she doesn't get out much (and her husband hates going to movies) so it was a really nice break.
• We switched BACK to cable because the trees decided that we weren't allowed to have satellite. We have a hard full of huge oaks, and we didn't want to cut them down for the sake of a clearer view. With the LOST finale on this week I wanted to make for darn sure we had reliable TV.
  

I'm sure other things happened this week, but I can't remember them. Hopefully next week is a fun, productive one. Here are a few things that will happen and a few that might.

• Livers has a doctor's appointment for her UTI. We have to see if the antibiotics worked. They seemed to, smelling as her diapers don't stink.
• I will actually make one scrapbook page. I will, I will, I will.
• I will participate in my first Tackle It Tuesday. While putting away towels I realized just how messy my bathroom's linen closet was. Not the towels, those are neatly folded and stacked by color, but all of the other bathroom things. It's OUT OF CONTROL.
• We will make beach plans.
• A movie with my baby brother.
• Livers and I will go to the park. And maybe buy a baby pool and sprinkler so we can start playing outside in the driveway on the hot days that are going to be coming really soon.
• I will take my new sewing machine out of the box and learn to use it. This is a big question mark.
• The electrician will come install our porch fan so J and I can start hanging out on the porch at night after Livers goes to bed.
• I will be less selfish.

I hope that everyone had a good week, has a good weekend, and has a great week to come!

I will leave you with some Weezer. :)

The State of the Livers...

...is good. Her antibiotics must be working, because she has been fine with her UTI. Which, strangely, she really seemed to have been in the first place. The only indicator to me that something was wrong was the stench smelled round the world. Needless to say, we're happy campers!

Thursday 13 - 13 Places I Want to Go Before I Die

I love to travel. If I had tons of money, that is one of the first things that I'd want to do with it (aside from the stereotypical pay off debt, buy a swank house, take care of my family, give to charity, yadda yadda yadda). That being said, here are 13 (of the many) places I want to visit before I die. Some are repeats, and there is no order, just dreams.

1. Australia
2. Japan
3. Israel
4. New York City (again)
5. Hawai'i (again, but maybe a new island, like Kauai; and the Big Island again--it was spectacular!)
6. Mt. Everest
7. Drive the California coast
8. English Isles (all parts: England, Scotland, Ireland)
9. Italy
10. Alaska
11. Iceland
12. India
13. Walk the Great Wall of China
    

Menu Plan Monday - May 26 (Belated)

I'm a little late getting up my menu plan this week. How's that for organization? I'll chalk it up to a pulled muscle in my neck. It's been keeping me down, literally, the past few days. Anyway, here we go.

Monday: Pasta marinara (aka, Ragu); Garlic and Cajun shrimp
Tuesday: Risotto with edamame, lemon zest, and tarragon
Wednesday: Stir fry beef and peppers with fried rice
Thursday: Tamatar Aloo with Basmati rice
Friday: eat out
Saturday: Indian fried chicken, basmati rice, broccoli and cheese
Sunday: Cheesy rice and beans

LIVERS UPDATE...AGAIN

She did have a UTI, and she started antibiotics this morning. Hopefully this will make her feel better real soon and she won't have anymore problems.