I have been tagged by Amy* with a meme that she created all by herself.
List 5 things from childhood that define who you were/are and how you thought/think. Weird things you did (and sometimes still do) as a child. They could be kind of typical things, not necessarily “original” things that ONLY you did, but maybe your weird brain did some of them in a different way.
This is going to show what a poor memory I have. I don’t know if I even have 4 let alone 5.
1. Counting in the car – Used to count random things on trips, street signs, dashes, mile markers. Along with counting in the car, I used to pretend there was someone outside of it on the side of the road doing cartwheels or backflips. How big a backflip would someone have to do to actually keep up with a car going 50mph on the highway? When the car was going slow I used to always think to myself, If I were walking I could be at X spot by now.
2. Music and singing – My brother, cousins and I used to put on talent shows for relatives. Grabbing fake microphones and belting out the songs.
3. Cleaning – I am not a neat freak (if you have seen my house you know this is true), but I like for things to be organized. Whenever I cleaned my room I would take everything out of all my drawers, refold it all, and reorganize my dresser. I also start from one side of a room and work towards the other.
4. Sampling smells and flavors – I remember gathering up perfumes and flowers and who knows what to make my own special perfumes (man they must have reeked and it’s probably why I don’t wear any now). I have also loved being in the kitchen ever since I was very small and experimenting. I used to try and invent new soups, with water, onions (sometimes wild green ones) and whatever else. My poor mom. I still really enjoy cooking and all 3 of the kids like to be in there with me helping out so maybe this will carry on in them.
5. Building houses and tents – We would throw blankets and sheets over tables, chairs that were spaced out in just the right way, or try and hang them from something attached to the wall. If we had a big huge box we were in heaven. That sucker would start out as a house, then morph its way into a car, a plane, or whatever else we needed it to be.
*We have known Amy for over a decade and never met. Crazy – I know.
The time reflected on this post is not the actual posting time, but the time I started. It was fun, thanks Amy! I guess now I need to tag someone else. I’ll pick Patricia, Todd, and Josh. If anyone else would like to do it (Miss Isabel, I’m looking at you), just leave me a comment 
Ever think about the the friends you had in high school? There are about 3 sets of people I wish I had kept in touch with after I went to college. One couple that got married my junior year (his senior) because besides the fact that they loved each other, they were also having a baby. Sometimes I feel bad that I didn’t keep in touch with them. It’s like they had a baby and I dropped out of the picture. Not really sure why except that I was young. Maybe I thought they needed their own space since they were a family.
The other people were 2 of my best friends growing up that I just lost touch with after graduating. It happens, I know. It doesn’t change the fact that I am curious about where their lives have taken them. I have talked to each of them but it was one time about 6 years ago and I didn’t keep it up. This leads me to the reason behind this post. I googled one of these friends, she has an uncommon last name, and found her. She seems to be doing really well. Would it be too wierd to send her an email out of the blue? I almost think so, it seems kind of stalkerish.
Here’s a quick post about this weekend (which Nathan said were the best days of his life, poor kid). I’ll put up some pictures and a video or 2 later. Friday Nathan’s class went on a field trip to “the best park ever”, a museum, and the Planetarium. Then we let him rent a game for the gamecube. That was the first “this may be the best day of my life” happening.
On Saturday, we took the kids to the zoo. Because this isn’t the biggest zoo ever, it is really nice to just take your time and enjoy what they have. In one of the sections, they have a spot where you can buy some turtle food and feed them. After we got the snacks from the machine, I asked Allison, “Allie, would you like some of this turtle food?”, thinking she was going to put it in her hands and throw it to the turtles. Instead, she grabbed one small piece and tried to put it into her mouth. When she realized it was for the turtles, she laughed and tossed it over the bridge.
After we got home from the zoo, we headed out to a small party for the kids. There were hot dogs, treasure hunting, playing in this huge pile of dirt, and roasting marshmallows. That was when Nathan said, “I can’t decide which day was better, yesterday or today”.
Sunday was a lazy day of a little yard work, then an afternoon at the park. The kids spent most of the time at the pond catching tadpoles, frogs, and minnows. Nathan and Zoey were both wearing their school sneakers when they decided to wade in the water. This meant we got to head home to change the kids out of their soggy, messy clothes, before grocery and the added bonus of shoe shopping. We ended the weekend with some pizza and book reading. All in all, a pretty great weekend.
1 medium acorn squash
1 large apple, diced
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbls unsalted butter
Pierce the acorn squash with a sharp knife in 4 or 5 places. Put the squash in microwave with several layers of paper towels under it. Microwave on High for 5 minutes. (To cook squash conventionally, cut in half, remove seeds, and place in a pan, cut side down, with 1/2 inch of water. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes).
While squash is cooking, comgine apple with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut the butter into small pieces and combine with the apple mixture.
Turn the squash over and microwave for an additional 5 minutes. Carefully remove the squash from the microwave and cut into two identical halves. (Remember it’s HOT!) Remove the seeds with a spoon.
Place squash in microwave safe dish, cut side up. Spoon half of the apple mixture into each cavity of the squash. Microwave for 3 minutes on high. Remove and serve.
Serves 4. Nutritional info: Calories – 213, Fat – 3.5 g, Protien – 5g, Cholesterol – 0mg, Carbohydrates – 46g, Sodium – 3mg
The High Performance Cookbook by Susan M. Kleiner, Ph.D., RD and KarenRae Friedman-Kester, MS, RD
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into cubes
2 Tbls soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla (or 1/2 tsp cooking sherry)
2 Tbls vegetable oil
4 Tbls chopped scallions (may substitute green onions)
2 cups frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
3-4 cups cooked white rice
3 eggs beaten
Combine soy sauce, sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
Heat oil in large pan or wok over high heat. Add scallions, peas and carrots. Cook until vegetables are heated throughout. Add rice and fold into vegetables.
Add soy sauce mixture to the rice, blending thoroughly. Fold in the beaten eggs and mix through the rice. Continue cooking until eggs are firm.
Serves 6 – Nutritional facts per serving (does not include chicken): Calories – 278, Fat – 9g, Protien – 10g, Cholesterol – 142mg, Carbohydrates – 41g, Sodium – 425mg
The High Performance Cookbook by Susan M. Kleiner, Ph.D., RD and KarenRae Friedman-Kester, MS, RD
This week I wish I had a tape recorder strapped onto Allison. She has been saying some of the cutest, off the wall stuff. She will make up stories to go along with whatever she is doing throughout the day.
Disgusting is one of her new favorite things to say. She says it with a smile and her nose all wrinkled up. Yesterday she picked up one of my cook books and asked Greg, “Can I read this book? It looks DISGUSTING!”. While flipping through the pages, she kept talking about it, and saying, “DIS-GUST-ING!” over and over.
Later in the day, she was playing with one of her cups in our bedroom. There was an extra lid on one of the side tables. Greg overheared her saying, ” And now what will we do? Take it off and make it awesome!*”, at which point she traded lids on the cup.
*in looking back through old logs, I noticed that I type the word awesome at least 2 times a day to Greg. I know she gets this word from my vocabulary.
According to the Netflix recommendations, I am a 20-30 year old guy. It always offers up things like The Wire, Oz, The Sopranos, many John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies, and every episode of South Park ever made. While I do like South Park, I don’t go out of my way to watch it. I do read Lisa de Moraes column just about every day though and this article made me laugh out loud.
A side note, when did Wikepedia get to be a legit reference source?
April Fool’s Day is quickly approaching. That means that Greg and I need to get on the ball and figure out what we are going to do to the kids. Last year, I put together a fake letter from the school. Nathan and Zoey had the same teacher for first grade so this seemed like a good opportunity. I put them in envelopes that had the schools letterhead and addressed them ‘To the Parents of…”
The kids reactions were just what we had hoped. Our reassurances that they did/were doing great in 1st grade so next year will be a breeze and “Hey, you guys will get to be in the same grade. How cool is that?!?”, didn’t go over well. When they realized what day it was (they had been so excited that morning, but as the day wore on, forgot all about it being April Fool’s Day), they laughed and laughed.
We’ll start out with a big irrational fear I have and work from there. Overpasses and exit ramps that are tall and curvy (ok, tall doesn’t have to be a factor but really doesn’t help). Whenever we go around one, I have the awful feeling that the car isn’t going to turn like it’s supposed to and we are going to go careening off of the ramp. If I’m not driving I can’t watch as we go around the curve. If I am driving, I really want to slow down to at most, the recommended curve speed. I feel my heart racing and my muscles tensing up. Once we get around the bend and onto the straight shot, everything becomes fine. In my nightmares (yes I have reoccurring nightmares about this) while falling off of the overpass, I grab a hold of whoever is sitting next to me, tell them I love them, then close my eyes and brace myself.
This leads to other thoughts, more morbid thoughts and questions. Maybe they are just more grown-up thoughts, since I am getting older. If something were to happen to Greg or myself, separately or combined, what would we do? If it were just one of us, what would the other do? Stay here in our town (doubtful). Where would we move, would it be closer to friends or family? If family, who’s? I like to think that Greg wouldn’t have to rush out to work and college funds would be set up for the kids with part of the life insurance. That’s about as far as I let those thoughts take me.
If something were to happen to both of us, would the kids be ok? Who would take care of them? When we talked about it, there was only 1 kid, and now we’ve added 2 more to the mix. Are they willing to take on that responsibility? While I really dislike thinking about this stuff, I also want to know that there is a plan. It’s nice to know Nathan, Zoey and Allison won’t just be thrown out there with someone.
Last year for his birthday, Nathan really wanted a new bike. He said his old bike was getting too small for him. The only thing was, he didn’t know how to ride it. About a month before his birthday, we told him that if he could learn how to ride his bike, by himself, that we would get him a new one. 30 minutes later, he was riding like a pro. Set reachable goals and our children race through them.
