Friday Fun

We are going to do things a little differently this week. For each numbered question, list that many things as your answer. For example, 1 thing for #1, 2 things for #2, 3 things for #3, and so on!
1. thing you have done this morning.

• Prepared for Monday's class- go me for starting early!

2. things you plan to do this weekend.

• Get these kids out of the house. They've been stuck all week due to the weather.
• Finish Preparing for Monday's class.

3. things you wish you had.

• The Jaguar J. Fergie plans to buy her mother.
• A new wardrobe with matching shoes, handbags and accessories.
• Really long hair. I'm tired of this same hair style. I've had it for about 10 years. Same length with minor changes in color. Change!

4. celebrity women you think are beautiful.

• Halle Berry
• Catherine Zeta Jones
• Beyonce
• Alicia Keys

5. celebrity men you find attractive.

• Boris Kodjoe (yum!)
• Denzel (no last name needed)
• George Cloony (no, I don't have a thing for older men).
• David Beckham
• Morris Chestnut

6. friends you regularly blog with.

• J. Fergie
• J. Ny
• Revka at the Porch Light
• ?
• ?
• ? (sorry, not that good at remembering everyone)

7. ways you would spend $1 million.

hmm, anyone of these may cost a million dollars....

• buy homes, rehab them and sell them.
• pay off student loans
• Finish 529ks for kids.
• reinvest 50% of it.
• buy parents' dream home.
• buy hubby his dream car (Azure or Phantom).
• Rent out my house and put down on my dream home.

8. personality traits you think are important.

• understanding
• loving
• caring
• giving
• ambitious
• persevering
• smart

I like to visit new people so leave a link if you can!

1.

2.

MamaLaws#12 - It's not that serious

First things first...

A Top Chef update: The judges sent Sam home!? Were they on crack? A crime against cuisine everywhere if you ask me. Not only was he a great chef but he was easy on the eyes too. He could have cooked the pants off of me Marcel anyday.

Now, onto business.

MamaLaw #12: "Lighten Up!"

On the Today Show this morning there was a piece on "Tots and Tonic" -- a story about moms who drink wine or "mom-tinis" while their kids enjoy a playdate. They profiled a group of 3 stay-at-home moms who get their kids together and they moms socialize over a couple of glasses of wine. So of course the show had an expert discussing how this was dangerous for safety reasons and problematic because moms might be drinking as a coping mechanism - duh (just kidding!). But really, I don't see the big deal. Maybe I'm just too laid-back but I don't think a little wine ever hurt anyone. And of course it's not like these moms are getting sloshed at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. No mom in her right mind would knowingly jeopardize her child's safety and as long as it's done responsibly and in moderation then it's all good. As we were discussing earlier this week, finding time to spend with your girlfriends is rare and so if some moms are taking advatage of the opportunity to have girltime while allowing their little ones to have kidtime, then more power to 'em!

Moms can be so hard on other moms. We might criticize their parenting styles or judge their children who reach milestones later than than our own. We try to impose our opinions on them and think that it's "our way or no way" and talk behind their backs. Some moms condone spanking. Others are adamantly against it. Some moms only feed their infants baby food made from scratch (God bless 'em!). Others are happy feeding their kids food off of the grocery store shelves. And then there are the so-called "Mommy Wars." Some SAHMs look down on moms who work outside of the home. And some working moms look down on moms who choose to stay at home. Then there are moms who turn their noses up at moms who put their kids in *gasp!* public school. And public shcool moms think private school moms are stuck-up. The list goes on and on. Let's calm down people! We're all mommies with a passion for parenting and doing what's best for our children. Parenting is a very personal thing and we need to respect each other's choices whether we agree with them or not. It would do us all some good to have a mom-tini Lighten Up!

[Can you tell I just learned how to write the html tags for a strikethrough today?]

** Incidentally, the "Lighten Up" concept applies very well to all aspects of mommying. For example, last night Oldest decided, naturally, that Crayola Marker in Magenta would look much better on her lips than on the huge pad of coloring paper that I gave her. While hubby freaked out at her amatuer makeup job, I wasn't fazed in the least. "Don't worry, it's non-toxic" I told him. "It'll come right off in the bath." He was running around getting washcloths and trying to furiously scrub her mouth while she laughed uncontrollably. I would have laughed too if they hadn't been disturbing Sam's description of his Mascarpone Mousse with Hawaiian Salted Coconut Milk & Citrus Tuile. Oh Sam.

Friday Fun...

Happy Friday!

Trying out a new meme today. It's called Friday Fun from Multi-Faceted Mama. Enjoy!



We are going to do things a little differently this week. For each numbered question, list that many things as your answer. For example, 1 thing for #1, 2 things for #2, 3 things for #3, and so on!

1. thing you have done this morning.

Grilled a peanut butter, honey and banana sandwhich for Oldest's lunch.

2. things you plan to do this weekend.

Take the girls to Family Storytime at the library.
Make freeze-ahead meals with J. Ny.

3. things you wish you had.

The Mercedes GL
A job that is part-time
More time in the day!

4. celebrity women you think are beautiful.

Nia Long
Tamia
Beyonce
Charlize Theron

5. celebrity men you find attractive.

Morris Chestnut
Maxwell
Common
Henry Simmons
Matthew McConaughey


6. friends you regularly blog with. I like to visit new people so leave a link if you can!

BooMama
Shannon
Jen
Busy Mom
Beth
Chris

7. ways you would spend $1 million.

Purchase investment properties
Retire my mommy, buy her the Jaguar she's always wanted and open her Bed & Breakfast
Send my kids to the best schools and start a trust fund for them
Quit my job, pay off the mortgage and invest in my business ideas
Travel, travel, travel
Buy a vacation home in the Caribbean
Shop!


8. personality traits you think are important.

honesty
kindness
sensitivity
humor
compassion
thoughtfulness
determination
dependability

Right Now I'm...

Thursday Thirteen

Since our blog's theme for this week seems to be "Moms Who Have to Put Their Needs On The Back Burner" [and don't get me wrong, I lovingly sacrifice my wants for my beautiful family but -- let's just pretend for a moment that I could have my cake and eat it too] here are:

Thirteen Things I Would Buy Myself If I Had Extra Cash

1. A fabulous haircut along with glamorous highlights.
2. A day at the spa. I'd get a manicure, pedicure, facial, massage, body scrub - the works!
3. The Brigitte Oilcloth Tote from Nepacena
4. The Sugar Lychee perfume from Fresh.
5. Creme de la Mer moisturizing cream from La Mer.
6. Dinner at Ceiba.
7. Lunch at Les Halles.
8. The KitchenAid Artisan Mixer in Pink.
9. A Tiffany lock necklace.
10. The MomAgenda Portfolio Planner.
11. A Valentine's Overnight Trip for me and hubby
12. Lasik surgery [I love my glasses but being blind without them is SO tedious]
13. And a North Face coat for hubby [I know this isn't for me, but hubby really wants one but is refraining in the name of "the budget"]

But alas, Oldest needs to be enrolled in a private school this fall, we have to upgrade our sports sedan to a family-compatible car this summer and these pesky kids of mine keep wanting to eat, so...this wishlist on my blog will have to do for now. At the very least it was fun talking about 'em!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. raggedy

2. suki

3. stacie

4. justice jones

5. kimo & sabe

6. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Along that same line...

Okay, my turn to vent. So yesterday I was out to lunch with my single co-worker/girlfriend who has been inviting me to lunch for several weeks now. I typically decline because who has time to sit down and eat lunch like a real person? Not me. Lunch for me is a bowl of soup at my desk during office hours. I typically am not on campus unless I have to teach, or I'm holding my office hours. So when do I prepare for class you say?? At home, while everyone is in bed. See my comment on J. Ny's post asking for help. Anyhow, I digress. So "we" are enjoying lunch at this jazzy new restaurant downtown, "conveniently" located just 10 minutes away from Oldest's school who has to be picked up by 3 p.m. (Reason #23 as to why I can never have a productive day, again I digress, sorry!). The food was wonderful, we ordered apps, shared the desert du jour, etc. so we were there a good two hours. On my way there I threatened myself with bodily injury if I spent more than an hour there since I had "a million things to do." One look at the menu and I knew I was in trouble.


Can I please get to the point?? I have a million things to do. So finally my friend says to me,
"Thank you for coming, I really enjoyed lunch, [blah, blah, blah, ] but I feel like every time we do something together, I'm wasting your time. " Yikes. So I say, "of course not!" And she responds, "Yes, you are always running here or running there and I feel like you are constantly rushing and so I feel as if I am on the clock, and I can't really relax because I know you are pressed for time." Ta! Imagine how I feel I want to say but of course, I don't.

But, the truth of it is, I can't be mad at her comment because really, she's right. Between classes, while I'm supposed to be preparing for the next class, I sometimes take a break and stop by her office to say hi for "five minutes." I always say, gotta run, would love to keep talking but, gotta run, or better get busy, otherwise, I'll be up all night, or something along those lines. The truth is, I am not sure I really have time for friends and that is sad. Hubby encourages me to make friends and to go out but I'm too tired, or just have too many things to do. Even though I feel like I should have so much time since I essentially work part-time, but yet and still I get nothing done, or so it seems, and if I do anything even remotely unrelated to work and kids, the day is a disaster and so the next day I'm playing catch up. This creates the ugly cycle, rushing here, rushing there, rushing even my friends away.

Sigh........... Life.

Works for Me Wednesday -- Shortcuts!

Mornin'!

This WFMW post is inspired by my good friend J. Ny who is struggling with the balancing act that comes with being a working mom. She asked for tips on how to have time for herself while "getting it all done" and so it go me thinking about my own chaotic life and what works for me. And suddenly, it came to me -- time-saving shortcuts! I have tons and they help me everyday so I thought I'd share some of them. Here goes:

(1) Swish and Swipe! This tip totally comes from The Fly Lady and I've added my own modifications. Clorox wipes are hidden treasures in my house. We use them for everything (hubby is obsessed). But they are handy because they eliminate the need for all-purpose cleaner and sponges, etc. Just keep a container of the wipes in each bathroom. In the mornings (and not every morning, mind you) I grab a few wipes and wipe down the sink area, the faucet, the toilet, drop 'em in the bowl, flush and I'm done. This keeps the bathroom from becoming an overwhelming project on the weekends. Inside the shower we keep a bottle of tile cleaner and a sponge and I'll give it a scrub while I'm taking a shower. I also keep a spray bottle of shower cleanser in the shower and spray the doors before I step out. I keep a few plastic grocery bags in the cabinet under the sink and use them to empty the trash when it gets full. After doing these 4 things, the bathroom is virtually clean and it takes all of 5 minutes! Of course if you have the luxury of a cleaning lady, you're a lucky dog and you can skip this one.

(2) Pre-prepare Dinner! Dinnertime is tough in my house because I don't get home until 6:30pm and by that time Oldest is starving and Youngest is almost ready for bed. So I try to have quick dinner solutions that are ready to go as soon as I set foot in the door, if not before. For example, I made Monday's chicken pot pie on Sunday night after the kids were asleep. Yes, I would have preferred to be watching my missed episode of Rome but it was worth it in the end. All hubby had to do when he got home with the kids on Monday was pop the pie in the oven and bake it for 30 minutes. By the time I got home it was done and the kids were already eating. Yay! I try to do this for most of our dinner meals when I can (i.e. have chicken marinating in the fridge or a casserole ready to bake) it really saves time and headache in the long run. Also, I make a grocery list for the week on Sundays and we all go grocery shopping for the week together. I don't know why but hubby likes coming and it ends up being a family outing so I don't have to feel bad about missing the kids while I'm running errands. I also bring my cookbooks with me to work so I can plan meals during the day since the evenings are nuts.

(3) The Snack Basket. The snack basket is serious business in my house. When I unpack the groceries, I take all of the snacks out of their boxes and put them all into a basket on the kitchen counter. This way, when Oldest wants a snack or when I'm packing lunches, all we have to do is pick something out of the basket. I try to stock it with healthful stuff like fruit cups, snack size packs of goldfish, mini-rice cakes, clementines, etc. It makes it easier for Hubby to because if I'm not home he can just get Oldest something out of The Snack Basket without (a) panicking (b) calling me or (c) giving her something randomly inappropriate. I also keep snacks for Oldest, like individually-wrapped cheese sticks or grapes, in the bottom crisper in the fridge where she can access them. She loves to open the drawer and get her own snack.

(4) Bathtime! This is one of my personal favorites. Hubby actually inadvertently put me on to it one day when he was bathing the girls. Instead of using a regular baby bubble bath, he used his Dial body wash as their bubble bath. Of course I chastised him about it, but once they were out of the tub, I realized how great they smelled and how squeaky clean they were. And it foams up nice and bubbly like regular bubble bath! So all you have to do is give them a good pass of the washcloth in the key areas and ta-da! Bath accomplished. Eliminates the "please stand up for Mommy so I can scrub you down" battle. I also "Swish and Swipe" the girls' bathroom while they are playing in the tub. 2 (er- 3) birds with one stone!

Hope you liked my shortcuts. Hey, they work for me!

Where will I find the time for myself?

I started writing this post last night, but then fell right asleep. I am thoroughly exhausted. My day starts at 7:00 and I'm at work by 8:30 and I go, go, go until at least 5:30. Rush home in traffic and I'm at home by 6:00....as soon as I walk in the door, DD is there to greet me and then it's play, dinner, bath, bed...it all ends at about 9:00 and then I'm usually out by 9:30. The weekends are no better because there always seems to be a family event to take care of. When, oh when, will I have time to take care of me?????? I've been meaning to go to Victoria's Secret Semi-annual sale for the past three weeks, I need a pedicure, and let's not talk about my hair....which has been in a ponytail for the past three weeks (and more). I just don't understand where I'm supposed to find the time to get things done for myself. What are you ladies doing? I need a Work for Me Wednesday tip!

*UPDATED* What to Do?

Our neighbors have officially sold their house and are moving to Florida next week. They are the best neighbors we've ever had and we'll miss them terribly...But, on Friday "Abuela" (as we call her) called to (a) borrow our table and (b) invite us to a get-together they were having Saturday night. I was sick with the flu but told her that Hubby would bring over the table and that I had a meeting on Saturday afternoon that ended at 7pm but that we would try to make it. So Saturday came and by the time we got back home from my meeting and the donut run, it was already 7:00pm. At this point we were all warm and cozy and full and all we wanted to do was go to bed -- not to mention Youngest was on her way to dreamland and I was still a bit under the weather...So Hubby called and let them know we weren't going to make it. Then, Sunday when I was at my Weight Watchers Meeting, Abuela called to invite us to their Yard Sale. Hubby told her that we would "come by later" but didn't tell me that she called until we were leaving to go to Chuck E. Cheese and she called us to ask if we had a newspaper that she could borrow (to wrap her fragile yard sale items in). So...I brought the newspaper over and she kind of gave me the cold shoulder -- I'm guessing that she was offended that we missed both the get-together and the yard sale. Hubby shoveled their driveway after the snowfall as a kind gesture, but we haven't spoken to them since.

What should we do? If anything. Or am I overreacting?

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I ended up going over to their house this morning to apologize. They were both fine! I think that she may have been stressed/busy on Sunday and that's why it came across as her giving me the cold shoulder. But anyway, I apologized for missing the get-together and they said that it was fine and no big deal and that they understood and we chatted for a bit. I gave them their plate back (filled with orange liqueur pound cake slices) and told them that we would come by this evening to say goodbye since they move out tonight. So, I'm glad that I mentioned it!

Menu Plan Monday

Hi There!

Where's everybody at? I've been MIA since Friday because we had sort of a busy weekend and I was fighting the flu. I'm (kinda) all better now though. Nothing much to report other than us getting about 2 inches (woo hoo!) of snow yesterday -- it was fun watching Oldest and Youngest marvel at the snowfall -- and an outing to Chuck E. Cheese. Mom's Night Out was fun as usual -- lotsa wine and laughs (probably because of the wine). Oh and we ate out on Saturday night before hubby satisfied his donut craving (tsk tsk). He drove us out about 30 minutes in the freezing cold to get to the nearest Kripsy Kreme! But you'll be glad to know yours truly didn't have any donuts (just a bite!) And...I lost another pound. Yay me!

Here's what our week looks like:

Monday: Homemade Chicken Pot Pie* (we never quite made it to this meal last week)

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Grilled Pork Chops, Spinach and Mashed Potatoes

Thursday: Chicken Stir-Fry & Jasmine Rice

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Eat Out or Pizza

Sunday: Grilled Garlic Chicken, Rice-A-Roni and Steamed Veggies

Here's hoping this week is more organized than last!

To see menus from people who actually have a prayer of sticking to them, visit Organizing Junkie.

*By the way -- it's delicious!

Friday's Feast

APPETIZER:
Which television shows do you just refuse to miss?

Now:

Top Chef
Ugly Betty
24

The Unit
Grey's Anatomy

Waiting Patiently for the Next Season:

The Wire
Entourage
Top Model
Project Runway
Real Housewives of OC

No, I'm not ashamed.

SOUP:
Who did you last speak to on the telephone?

Mommy. How'd you guess?

SALAD:
How many pillows do you keep on your bed?

Five. Last night hubby and I determined that our sixth pillow has mysteriously disappeared. Currently a 3-foot tall, tangerine-loving, Barney-watching, chatterbox is our prime suspect.

MAIN COURSE:
Name one addition to your computer (software, hardware, etc.) that you'd love to have.

Vista. Curious to try it out.

DESSERT:
What is your favorite foreign food?

This is hard. I have so many. Ok, pizza. Does that even count as a foreign food anymore? If not, then poutine.

Yummm. Lisa, stop drooling.

And roti.

To see more Friday Feasts, click here.

Speaking of Parties...

What are you doing March 2nd to March 9th? Well, save the date. You're invited to The Ultimate Blog Party! A what? Yes, a BLOG PARTY. There will be food and drinks and good music and cute guys and lots of prizes! Well, ok. Maybe I'm exaggerating a wee bit but it really will be fun and there really will be lots of prizes.

Anyway, you've gotta come. I hear that everybody who's anybody is gonna be there.