Fave Song Revisiting

Bare Naked Ladies has always been a favorite of mine because they are goofy and fun and talented yet every so often they have a serious song that has such honesty that I can't help but love it. I am listening to Call and Answer right now. It brings back so many memories.
When I was growing up we spent a lot of family time at the beach. I looked forward to it so much, not because of the togetherness it was supposed to foster (not likely when my siblings and I were all big, crammed in a tiny back seat for hours after walking on a beach and not really all that fond of each others company to begin with) My dad had a collection of tapes he used to play over and over on these trips. I have loved singing since I can remember and this was heaven - singing at the top of my lungs and no one cared.
Now when driving around with my husband and kids, a song from one of those long ago summer days will come on the radio and I'm immersed in memories of being 16, lounging in the sun with sand on my feet and wind in my hair. I usually blurt out the place that song brought to mind.
In the middle of The Rains Down in Africa I say " Sunset Bay". While listening to Same Old Lang Syne, I'll toss in "Bandon". The Beatles were usually from Grants Pass to Coos Bay.
I may love more funk noise now, but the old songs touch my heart in more ways than one.

OUR FIRST LOOSE TOOTH!!!!

I have three boys, I feel like I've been Mom since the beginning of time but I've never dealt with a loose tooth. I'm so excited, giddy really, but I'm also sad. I remember being 6 when I lost my first tooth, it was in class and I was thrilled til my teacher told me to calm down, it wasn't anything special.
This means he's growing up and not my little baby anymore. My sister called me a few months back when her son (10 months older than mine) lost his first tooth. I was happy for her, but I saw it as another milestone. I didn't even know I didn't understand. Now, as I run through a series of different emotions and reactions and realizations, I want to call her and tell her I understand now.
Daddy and I have to talk about our tooth fairy policy now. LMAO.

Mom Guilt

Every time I see this face, I hear a voice in my head... You should never have turned around, Mom. You know I move like lighting the moment you aren't watching and I always head for trouble. Better yet, you shouldn't have taken me into a house with stairs. Look at my face, Mom. It could have been my EYE. Imagine what would happen if we lived there. I wouldn't survive my 2nd year with all of my God given body parts intact. It would be your fault.

Today we went house hunting

The results weren't awesome, but ok. First we saw a house on the end of the street where we already live and it was lovely... but someone put in an offer the morning we called. And now the listing is taken down, so they are obviously very sure of the impending sale. This bummed us out a lot.

The real estate broker, Juana, was just simply adorable and didn't mind driving all over to look at places nearby that were in our range and requirements.

The second house was perfect for us... inside. Outside was a different matter. The landscaping in nada, that didn't bother me, but there was no walkway, path, or pavement. Yuck. The property was shaped like a slice of pie with the front door facing the point and the back door (sliding glass door) faced the crust... the crust being a main road through town. One last though VERY important factor was the neighbors. The people on the left were slovenly and dirty, the house was in disrepair and there was "stuff" out front... broken chairs, tumbled trash, dead vehicles, a falling-down shack... and their two running cars were parked sideways across the driveway of the property we were looking at. It was obvious they had been doing this all winter. The neighbors on the other side had a cute, clean, well groomed house and yard, but two of the bedrooms had windows straight into their house, no trees or fence. No privacy.

The third house was one we had looked at before while cruising around checking out houses with For Sale signs out front. We had liked it, but they were asking too much for a place with some expensive issues. The inside was slightly dated, but beautiful. Downstairs had a giant living room and kitchen, a full bath and a big bedroom. Spacious two car garage was attached, door in the kitchen leading to it. Upstairs was an enormous mast bedroom with a big full bath and a walk in closet and a sliding glass door to the deck, a smaller bedroom with windows onto the deck and the roof of the garage (two foot drop to the roof). Next to that was another small room with a view of the other side of the garage roof as well as a door that leads to a set of outside stairs. Next to the garage was an un attached 2-car garage very nice. Bad points- the deck and stairs and front porch were all made of plank wood... and all of it was rotten. the attached garage's doors were saggy, the exterior doors were swelling and sticking in the jambs. The inside stairs were a little steep, Baby fell down the bottom two steps and has a bright shiny black eye and shallow scrape. There is a chicken coop out back that looks like a converted greenhouse and the neighbors were letting their chickens roost in it wildly, the fence to the neighbors horse paddock was sagging nearly to the ground and their whole property looked awful. No landscaping again and no fencing, but then there hasn't really been a property line established, either.

The fourth house was lovely, much newer but smaller. The property has lots of trees and is fenced on three sides, there is a large single car garage attached, a vaulted ceiling in the living room, a fair size master bed with a small, but full bath. There was a full next to two small bedrooms. Very modern fixture and floor plan. There is an RV size garage with a Mother in Law quarters... a pretty bare bones one, to be sure, it had a hunting cabin feel to it, lol. But it had it's own small loft, full bath, kitchenette, wood stove and living area.


I liked the interior of the 2nd, it was large, open, and built in 2005 though never lived in. The price was good.
I adored the interior of the 3rd, but hated the outside and the loads of expensive work it would take to make it safe for us, i.e. fencing, replacing the wood on the porches and upstairs deck, putting in a usable driveway, and replacing the windows. The cost was MUCH lower than it started out, but still on the high end of our budget.
I could live with the 4th, but I didn't like the interior very much. I loved the MIL quarters, I could see my father staying out there when visiting, MIL and FIL moving in for the winter, having "camp-outs" or sleepovers with the kids. The fence on three sides is good. The price was good for a place that size and year with an RV garage and a possible rental, but still on the high end and not likely to come down at all.
Juana (the real estate broker, in case you forgot) said she has contacts that can help push through our loan and we should know in a week whether or not we have a pre-approval. Once we have that, our biggest hurdle will be convincing the seller to cover the closing costs. The down won't be easy, but I am sure we can manage it since the loan stipulates 3% down.
I love looking at places, but I really hate shopping. We spent three hours looking, part of that was spent sitting on the floor of house #3 snuggling and nursing Mase in an attempt to make him feel better. I am crossing my fingers that it was a productive day, but we're going to talk to Juana's mortgage broker friend soon and go look at a house nearer Mike's job next weekend, so that might be our lucky day.

I could teach a class.

Hello students! Welcome to How to Bring on a Headache 101.

First we need to identify the most common causes of headaches.

~Small children screaming at frequencies that would scare dogs miles away and decibels that make a normal person bleed from the ears. It's even more potent and fast acting if they are uncomfortably close to or even climbing your person while making noise and demands.

~Stress, preferably in a long term, inescapable form. Most likely concerning money, food, health, or bull headed morons.

~Caffiene Withdrawl, best if done cold turkey with after three weeks of two pots/ 44 ouncers a day during a time where you no option for changing your mind at the last minute. Such as broke and without a vehicle.

~Stoopid, dramatic people with opinions. Need I say more?

You will almost certainly have success with one of these methods, but if you still fail to achieve near-migraine headache pain, you could combine all of them. This is not recommended for beginners and should only be attempted by those who are absolutely sure they want blinding pain.
For full effect, make sure to have no coffee, soda or pain killers in reach.
Tomorrow- How to Achieve a Full Blown Migraine. Group discussion to follow. Subject: Best ways to keep your vomit contained, and screaming at people to shut the hell up without raising your own voice.

Domesticity at it's yummiest

I love to cook. I really really love it. I have found that even if I used recipes that don't grace the pages of a health food cookbook, my family loses weight and has more energy when I make our food rather than buy it.
My favorite in the last couple of days has been potato rolls. Oh, heavens they are good. I made Honey BBQ Chicken, put them on potato rolls with finely sliced lettuce and tomatoes, mayo with lime, salt and pepper in it, corn on the cob and some mint iced tea on the side. You know what? They each ate one and were full. It was so very similar to a KFC snacker, but it didn't take 2 of them to fill up my 6'3" tall husband or my rapidly growing boys.
Tonight I am craving cookies. Mmmmmm, cookays! (imagine a blue furry monster with bad table manners... ah, now I'm slightly funnier. Just had to get you in my head for a moment)
So I did what any self respecting Domestic Diva slash Super Mom would do. I made them. And not my chocolate chip cookies or even the Giant Soft Double Ginger cookies I drool just thinking about. I made Cranberry Orange Pinwheels. There was a panicky moment when I though I might have not nuts, but then I found them. Yeah, you heard me. Just making them was a joy, they smell so good.
Since I am cookie-happy at the moment, I decided to share the recipes for all of the above foods. I already shared them with my ladies at GC because they are totally awesome... but I guess I can share them here, too, if only to impress everyone with my amazingly good food.

Honey BBQ Chicken

3 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
salt
pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 c flour
oil

Glaze-

1/2 c honey
3/4 c bbq sauce

Slice the chicken into 1 inch thick strips and put them in a bowl. Pour the worchestershire sauce over them, coat them well and let sit for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a pan at med-high heat. Drain the chicken and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Dredge the seasoned chicken in the flour then fry til golden brown.
Mix the honey and bbq sauce together and dip the chicken in the sauce (or use a brush, I just prefer dipping) and place on a shallow pan. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush more sauce over the pieces and bake for 8-10 more minutes. You can leave them the way they are for stickier chicken, but I like to dab just a tiny bit of the uncooked sauce over them.



Potato Rolls
4 1/2 c flour
1 pkg yeast
1 c milk
1/4 c water
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c shortening
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 c mashed potato (I used leftover instant potatoes, water and butter, no milk. If you want, you can boil a peeled potato and mash it really well instead)

Mix 2 c flour with the yeast, set aside. Heat milk, water, sugar, shortening, and salt til just barely warm then add to the flour/yeast mix along with the egg and mashed potato. Beat on low til mixed, scrape the sides then beat on high for a couple of minutes. Stir in as much flour as you can. Should be very soft and pliable but not sticky anymore. This is a SUPER soft dough.

Knead til smooth and elastic, 8 minutes or so. Let it rise in a greased bowl for an hour or til doubled. Punch down the dough, split it in half, let rest 10 minutes. Divide each portion into 12 pieces (I made each half in 6 pieces to make a larger bun for a sandwich) Pull each piece into a ball and tuck edges under to make the top smooth. Let rise on a greased baking sheet for 35 minutes or til doubled. (closer together for a dinner roll, further apart for the bigger sandwich bun)
Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or til golden brown. Get them on to a cooling rack right away. These are delicate rolls, I let the weight of the bread knife do the cutting.

Cranberry Orange Pinwheels

1 c cranberries
1 c pecans
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp finely shredded orange peel
3 cups flour


For filling, use a blender or food processor to combine the first three ingredients til finely chopped. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat butter on high til soft. Add granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat til combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and orange peel. Add as much flour as you can with the mixer, then add the rest mixing by hand. Divide dough in half and chill for an hour or til firm and easy to handle.

Roll out half the dough between two sheets of waxed paper to about 10 inch square.spread half the filling over the dough withing a 1/2 in of edges. Roll up the dough, moisten and pinch edges to seal well. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Repeat with 2nd half of dough and filling. Chill for 4-24 hours.

Cut slices 1/4 in thick and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are firm and the bottom lightly browned. cool on the cookie sheet for a minute, then transfer to the cooling rack.

The sunrise really does sing

Normally I am a 9am riser... I've tried all different hours and the one that seems to be kindest is 9. That said, I've been having sleep issues since somewhere in November. I think the end of the month? Not a new thing, I've been sort of an insomniac from my early teens, but when I am pregnant I adore the fatigue, it makes me sleep, then during nursing I get the relaxed snuggly sleep thing going on. Now Mase's over a year old and I had a stressful time the end of 2008. My sleep was worse than it's been in years.
Last night I had a REALLY hard time with him... kicking, flopping, waking. Ugh. Then I woke with Mike's alarm at 6:30. At 7 he left, I snuggled back in my bed, nearly drifted and then he called. He'd gotten paranoid about leaving the garage door open, haha. I tried to crawl back in bed, but that warm, perfect-position feeling was gone and I saw the pink clouds out the window. I figured, I'll get back in, fight sleep, wake the baby, then crash somewhere around noon. Or - I'll get up and make coffee and enjoy the sunrise.
So I was up watching the sun and getting time to myself. Ahh, feels good.

So much for "a few hours"

Sorry about that to anyone who reads this blog and actually hoped I would be updating. It was a crazy time involving horrid weather, new tire chains, being snowed in for an extra day, and the loudest presents anyone has ever given my children. No pictures since darling baby boy stole my camera and I haven't discovered where the little Jeremy put it. Don't look so blank. You know, Jeremy, as in Secret of Nimh? Couldn't resist the shiny? Still nothin', huh. Visual aid time, people! And you have to admit, it's better than calling him The Stain. Which we only do infrequently these days. I still yell it in my head though. Hehe.



Moving on to today. I have been killing myself watching Food Network. We didn't have it with this provider, but after we came back from Thanksgiving visit to my Nanny and Dandad's house, we had it. Poof, like a fairy granting a wish. the kids and Mike and I are all mesmerized as soon as it comes on, hands down the most watched channel. So tonight I made a grape jelly sheet cake with peanut butter icing. It smells heavenly ( despite it's looks) and I am restraining myself waiting for dessert or Mike's arrival, whichever is first.

Thanks to the gray, dripping, melty and yet still too cold to go outside weather, the kids and I are indoors and going slowly mad. I would have said quietly, but the only time things are quiet here is when we are losing valuable material possessions or a child is about to scream and/or bleed. I am currently trying to make up for the neglect to my house that happened leading up to the holidays. Yeah, fun times.